A Heartbeat Away, A Universe Apart
by YamiPaladinofChaos
Summary: [Pre HBP Kingdom HeartsHP fusion] Chapter 13 Nil Desperandum: Harry Potter, Inuyasha, and Robin Sena return to their quest to beat back the Heartless. The results of Harry's training will be shown, as well as a new ally, a man calling himself the Tenken.
1. Prologue: Alpha And Omega

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter, property of J.K. Rowling, or Kingdom Hearts, which belongs to Square Enix. Nor do I own any Anime/Game/Book character or setting you may see here.

_"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."_

_-Edgar Allen Poe_

Prologue: Alpha And Omega

Blink.

In that one blink, your entire life has been summed up. Every experience; the crisp, sweet taste of chocolate ice cream on a hot summer day, the indescribable beauty of the sunset, the warmth of a mother's touch as she sings your favorite lullaby, reduced to a single instant.

_Reduced to a blink of Time._

Insulting, maybe. Humbling, quite possibly. Accurate, most definitely.

We are but mayflies, sparks of consciousness that burn out even as we are birthed, when juxtaposed next to the limitless Eternities.

And that is but one tiny, insignificant world, on one tiny, insignificant universe, in one plane of existence.

Compare the spark of life of a single human being to the endless, amaranthine multitude of planes of existence, not even bothering to mention worlds upon worlds, upon innumerable worlds.

_Just a blink of Time. _

And on these worlds, there have always been two constants in our world, in all worlds, two powers anathema to each other.

_There has always been Light._

_There has always been Dark. _

Coexisting, battling, struggling, for all Eternity.

On every world, on every plane of existence, wars have raged for control, between forces of Light and Dark.

To Light, and to Darkness, man, woman, child, beast, all are pawns to the endless and ceaseless strife that exists between the irreconcilable powers. Wars fought between nations, between warriors, in the skies, in the seas, _in our very hearts._

But now something awesome and terrible has awakened. Something that will change the way these endless planes, this multiverse of ours exists.

_Something **Evil.**_

The Darkness stretches now, grasping all universes, all the planes of the multiverse in its abyss. All is spiraling into the empty abyss, all will turn to Darkness.

And only one will have the power to change that.

_The one who wields the Key._

Only he can unlock the Door.

The Door that leads to the Heart of All Worlds... where all things were vivified at the Dawn... where all things can be renewed... where all things will return at the End... _where all things can be annihilated. _

_The Door that leads to Kingdom Hearts. _

And even then... only the Almighty Creator himself can know what is behind that Door, and what will happen when it opens.

Heaven?

_Hell?_

_**Armageddon? **_

Or maybe... all three, and yet none.

God only knows.

* * *

Tonight was the night.

The night that the Dark Lord would return to the zenith of power and then ascend beyond it, beyond the trappings of this mortal veil and become what he had desired most of all.

A god.

The night that everything would change.

The night that the doom of this world would unfold.

Before his first fall, Lord Voldemort had searched for such a place. A place where the world itself, the fabric of reality had been scarred. The search had been halted by his sudden and unexpected apparent demise.

Luckily, Lucius had his ears open to many dealings, and had heard tales of such a place from his... seedier contacts. A place where Dementors had been sighted, where shadows lingered in daylight, where the very air seemed thinner... colder...

_Darker._

As the Death Eaters behind him knelt, chanting the proper rituals to invoke the Darkness, the Dark Lord spoke.

"Darkness, I implore you. Grant me your power! Make me an avatar of your might!"

The shadows twisted malevolently, as if alive. Impenetrable, dark, and deep. _Like a living abyss. _

Despite himself, Voldemort felt a spike of fear and excitement drive into his chest. Raising his wand to his chest, he placed it, just above where his heart was.

"Fill me with your strength! Darkness, I offer you my heart!"

His wand began to glow a sickly bloody red light, throwing unnatural shadows which danced and swarmed and shimmered around that unreal phosphorescence.

The Darkness, as if attracted, lunged, and pierced Lord Voldemort's chest, right where his heart was placed.

The Dark Lord gasped in agony, and then screamed, before the icy feeling enveloped him totally, engulfing him an abyss of apathetic and arctic nothingness, and he collapsed.

Immediately, the Death Eaters stopped chanting, many frozen in horror, some almost ready to flee. Bellatrix hurried over to her master, and knelt at his side.

"My Lord, are you alright?"

Lord Voldemort lifted his head, and she gasped. Where once his crimson eyes had been glowing, now they were dark as blood... almost black. There were shadows on that ivory skin, making him seem a living shade. And strangest of all, a deep amethyst, almost midnight black crest in the shape of a crossed out heart lay on his chest...

"Better than alright," The Darkness, the Dark Lord, or perhaps both, replied, his voice at once filled with utter malevolence and purest evil, soft as shadow.

* * *

_All around him was endless sky, above, below, left, right, north, south, east, west. Endless sky, all encompassing, circumscribed about him impossibly. Not the beautiful, clear blue skies, but a darkened, indigo sky of the sunset._

"_Where am I?" he asked quietly, glancing about himself._

_A voice boomed out of the depths of Eternity and the end of Time, soft as a breeze and with the force of a gale. **This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness... soon to be completely eclipsed. There is so very much to learn. You understand so little.**_

"_What?"_

_Suddenly, he found himself falling, falling, falling into the sky..._

_And then he was Elsewhere. _

_Emptiness... everywhere and nowhere. Darkness, hungry and Evil, endless and omnipresent. _

_Harry Potter stood alone, weaponless and friendless, before utter and complete Darkness._

_Fear gripped him, fear that went beyond childhood fears of the dark, beyond the icy fear of Dementors, beyond the terrifying visage of Lord Voldemort. This was primal._

_Everything fears the Darkness, and cringes from it._

_**Something** in the abyss moved, something unholy and unnatural and unreal._

_Something Evil. _

_**And it wanted him. **_

_Harry screamed as the Darkness lunged for him, voraciously gorging itself on his body, his soul... _

_**His Heart**. _

_And as he screamed, the Voice spoke again, deep as the ocean and older than aeons. _

_**There will be times when you will have to fight, keep your light burning strong...The day you open the door is both far off and very near.**_

_Harry felt the Darkness devouring him, an icy abyss of pure Evil. He tried to scream, but no one heard him as he drowned in the umbra. _

_Despite this, the Voice continued to speak. _

_**But don't be afraid... you hold the mightiest weapon of all...**_

_Only his head and a single outstretched arm, frantically waving for any assistance, remained above the abyss. The Darkness poured itself down his throat, and he went numb with arctic temperatures racing through his veins. The icy hand of this Evil struck at his heart, and Harry gave one final scream... _

_**Your heart.**_


	2. Chapter 1: Invasion

Disclaimer- See prologue for this and all following chapter's disclaimers.

_"When the sky is rent asunder, when the stars scatter and the oceans roll together, when the graves are hurled about, each soul shall know what it has done and what it has failed to do."_

_-The Koran, 82:1_

Chapter 1 Invasion

_He was standing at the Crossroads. A place where all things come and go, meet and end. _

_It was dark... endlessly, abyssal darkness. A place where Time meant nothing, where an Age could pass in a blink, where Everything was born and would return._

_An Angel stood at the gates of the Crossroads, wielding a divine spear. The massive wings loosed a gust of wind, and it charged._

_In a burst of light, the angel disappeared, and his surroundings were changed. _

_Shining gold, luminous, filling the blank abyss, accentuated by the shadows around it. In the shape of a square, with an oversized, even more phosphorescent outline of a keyhole. _

_Like a siren's song, it beckoned him, drew him, haunting and alluring, a mesmerizing sight that filled him with apprehension. _

_The image only lasted for a moment, but it was burned into his mind, deep into his psyche. _

_With a flash of light, everything became white, empty nothingness..._

Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, jolted awake, gasping deeply for precious atmosphere as he felt cold sweat trickle down his back. The sheets fell away, like the last vestiges of sleep.

"Just a dream..." He assured himself breathlessly, "Just a dream..."

But the images of that Door were so real, so vivid... it was as if he had known of that place his entire life, merely forgotten it at one point or another. Once more, the ache in his heart grew, as if he would die if he did not open the Door.

It had been like this for a whole week... ever since he had that first dream with that Voice... he'd been having this same dream, nay, vision. It was too much like the experience, if not the feeling of Voldemort induced visions to be anything else.

"Harry? You awake mate?" Ron asked concernedly through the wood of the door.

Immediately, the dream faded away like a morning mist, and reality awakened.

He was at Grimmauld Place-

_Sirius, eyes wide with shock as he fell into the veil-_

Blinking back the pain of memory, Harry responded tonelessly, "Yeah."

With a small sigh, Ron left, shaking his head.

"You've got to stop Harry." He whispered softly.

As Ron crossed the hallway, he was intercepted by another redhead.

"He's still out of it?" Ginny Weasley asked quietly, concernedly. The two Weasleys glanced at the door, then back to each other. Harry had gone straight up to the room last night after being brought, literally kicking and screaming to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Yeah." Ron replied hoarsely.

"Maybe you should-" his sister began, but the other redhead shook his head.

"Never works." Ron replied sadly, turning away. "Never works."

"So you're just going to give up?" Ginny challenged, eyes flaring with anger.

Her brother whirled on her, an inferno of his own anger, frustration, and self loathing in his eyes. "What would you like me to do! He yells at us, he screams from nightmares he never tells us about, and I can't do a damn thing but watch him do it!" Ron's voice, which began as a fierce whisper, broke down as it reached the final words. "What can I do Ginny?"

"I don't know Ron." _But at least you have the courage to try._ Ginny replied, feeling a slight jealousy at her brother's closeness to the Boy-Who-Lived that was absolutely abhorrent to her. "I really don't."

Hermione Granger rounded the corner, and saw Ron, leaning, body shaking with unreleased frustration, and saw Ginny, standing helpless and downcast. She felt despair and misery rise like a tide within her, as her lip quivered and tears came to life in her eyes. Pulling Ron into an embrace, she looked at Ginny and asked with a wry, tearful voice, "That bad?"

Ginny gave her a sad, quiet smile.

The other girl felt tears spring from her eyes and she pressed her face into her best friend's shirt. "Ron... why won't he let us help him?" She asked quietly, her voice muffled by the cloth but still, the redhead heard her.

"I don't know Mione." He replied sadly, a feeling of repugnance at his own helplessness and frustration at... everything.

The sight of her brother and his best friend holding each other, in tears about their best friend, set a spark of indignation coursing through Ginny. Feeling all the anger and frustration build within herself, it exploded into an inferno with that spark, lighting up into the courage she needed.

Without a word, she stormed into Harry's room, not heeding the calls of Ron and Hermione. The door met the wall with a loud crack, but neither of the two occupants noticed.

"What?" Harry asked rudely, his voice toneless.

"Harry Potter, I feel sorry for you." Ginny said quietly, her eyes blazing.

The Boy-Who-Lived's eyes sparked with fury and raw, relentless pain. "Oh, so at last_ someone _says it! Look at the Boy-Who-lived, he's lost his parents, his relatives hate him, and his godfather is dead! Let's all have a bloody pity party!" He spat venomously, his tone full of acidic mockery.

"That's not why." The redhead replied, her tone still low and her eyes still furious.

"Then why? Is it the fact that I've got a murderous Dark Lord on my trail, or a horde of his sycophants who want my head on a platter?" Harry retorted poisonously.

"It's because you have two good, decent people who love you and care about you, and you're driving them away." At his gaping, uncomprehending expression, Ginny continued. "Its because that anyone with eyes can see that Ron and Hermione would die for you, because anyone can see that my mother sees you as one of her own, because of the fact that the twins, for all their pranks and jokes, are loyal to you. There are so many people whose lives you have touched, and you're driving them away. Face the facts Harry. There are people who love you, who want to help you."

"Loving me is like asking Voldemort to kill you." Harry said quietly, his voice hollow. "My mum and dad did it. Look how they turned out. Sirius cared..." He broke off, swallowing down the sob.

"He cared, and he wanted you to be safe and happy." Ginny replied. "Do you think you can be happy, do you think Sirius would have wanted you to give up the people who care about you?"

Rage built upon rage within the Boy-Who-Lived. "WE'LL NEVER KNOW THAT, BECAUSE HE'S DEAD!" he screamed in fury and self loathing, before stumbling backwards, tears falling from his eyes. "And I killed him." He added hoarsely, brokenly.

Ginny stepped closer, eyes softening, the inferno becoming a warmth. "You didn't, Harry. Bellatrix did. Tom did. Not you." She replied quietly, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I know that... but why can't I believe it?" The Boy-Who-Lived asked softly, voice barely a whisper.

"Because you're a good person Harry. Because you would feel guilty even if a Death Eater was killed, because you loved Sirius, and he loved you." And with that, she embraced him comfortingly. "Just like Ron and Hermione love you."

Without a single word of protest, Harry let himself be comforted, allowing himself the small feeling of repose that he had been denied for so long. "I wish I had told him that." He rasped softly. "I... wish I'd had more time..."

Ginny pulled back and gave him a small, understanding smile. "He already knew Harry."

Silently, Harry laid against the embrace, crying and trying to quell the ache that still stirred in his heart.

"Thank you." Harry whispered softly, truthfully.

Hermione and Ron crowded into the room, and laid themselves next to him, one on each side, placing their hands on his shoulders.

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked quietly, meaningfully.

Swallowing, the Boy-Who-Lived nodded. "I... I'm sorry. Sorry for everything." Ginny slowly stepped backwards, sensing this was a moment for the trio. It hurt, a little, but she knew that this was a bond beyond time, something that could never be broken.

Hermione gave him a slight scowl that was softened by her kind eyes. "Don't be, Harry. We're your friends."

"Mione's right, Harry." Ron added. "If we can't be the people you let loose on, who will? We've been friends for almost six years. We're like a family."

Looking quite impressed with the redhead's speech, Hermione chipped in. "We'll always be there for you, Harry. We'll always be with you, just like Sirius."

Glancing at her, the Boy-Who-lived rasped wryly, "I don't deserve you guys..."

"Nonsense." The brown haired girl dismissed with a wave of her hand, pulling Harry into an embrace. "You're the bravest and kindest person I've ever known. You've changed all our lives, Harry, made us better than we are. And that's why we love you." Her voice had changed to a bare whisper, but it still held strength.

"Listen to her, mate. She's always right." Ron said quietly, a slight wry tone in his voice.

Unable to speak, the Boy-Who-Lived smiled and nodded.

Sheltered in care and love, Harry Potter found some semblance of solace in his friends.

He wasn't over Sirius' death, not by a long shot, and still blamed himself for at least part of it, but in this small moment, something had changed for him.

And maybe that was enough.

* * *

Though no one within Number Twelve Grimmauld Place noticed, a peculiar, unnatural, _wrong_ phenomena occurred.

Nothing heralded its arrival.

No sudden trumpet blaring the End of the World.

No prophets predicting destruction.

No warning, none at all.

_The sky turned black. _

First in small sparks, like shadows flickering from a dying flame.

Then large patches, where clouds were devoured by pockets of midnight.

And then, like a cancer, it spread, obscuring the sun and sky, or perhaps enveloping the world. Soon, the world became dark, and light no longer shined on the Earth.

Man, woman, child, all looked up and saw the black sky, and were afraid.

And when the Darkness had fully spread, fully gorged itself upon the Sun and Sky, the manifest Darkness appeared in the streets of London.

* * *

Kingsley Shacklebolt burst into the Headmaster's office, where Albus Dumbledore had been overlooking a few Order reports. As the professor glanced at him cautiously and questioningly, he managed a breathless, "Death Eaters in London!"

Immediately, the elder's face went grave and he stood up, drawing himself to his full, intimidating height, the very picture of the defeater of Grindelwald. "The Aurors should be on their way shortly. I'll go to Grimmauld Place and bring the Order."

Nodding, the Auror activated his Portkey, headed for the Auror Headquarters.

Dumbledore cast a glance at the sky, which he had been monitoring for some time. "So it begins then, Tom." With a final, almost memorizing glance around his office, he waved at all the portraits. There was something absolute, a tone of finality in that small gesture.

And then, without another word, he crossed over to the fireplace, and was on his way.

And then the Headmaster appeared in a flash of flame within the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Almost immediately, Remus Lupin met with him. "We got the Floo call from Tonks." He explained, and then looked critical. "What do we do?"

Albus refused to let out a sigh. _Always, they look to me, he noted sadly. What will they do if I am gone?_

_**Or rather, when?**_

"Albus?" Remus asked, concerned over the unusually taciturn Headmaster.

Blinking, surprised at his distraction, Dumbledore said quickly, "Gather the rest of the Order, and prepare yourselves. When you are ready, meet the Death Eaters."

_And God knows what else, _a cynical part of his mind remarked.

The werewolf looked at him piercingly. "Us? You mean to say that you won't be joining the attack?" he questioned archly.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I have other business. Where is Harry?"

Glancing upstairs, with a small hint of amusement, Remus replied, "From the yelling, I'd say the second floor."

At this, the professor gave a slight smile and a nod, and then departed wordlessly up the stairs.

As Dumbledore reached the top, he encountered a slightly aggravated Boy-Who-Lived and partially panicked friends.

"Professor!" Harry exclaimed in surprise, then his gaze became piercing. "It's _him_, isn't it?" he questioned, knowing the answer.

Nodding, the Headmaster took Harry aside as he said, "I need to talk with Mister Potter alone."

Though both Weasleys looked reluctant, Hermione pulled them away, but gave Dumbledore her own gaze that reminded him amusedly of Minerva's. When they were out of sight and hearing, the professor turned himself back towards the now irritated Harry Potter.

"Harry, listen to me. You must not face Voldemort." He said sternly, looking over his half moon spectacles at the defiant teen.

The Boy-Who-Lived gave him an arctic glare. "Why not? I'm supposed to kill him anyway." He retorted testily.

Wincing inwardly, Dumbledore replied adamantly, "You cannot defeat him. Not as he is now, not as you are now."

Although neither wizard noticed it at the time, the lights dimmed, and the air became significantly cooler, despite it being a hot summer day.

"I need you to place this advice close to your heart, Harry." Dumbledore continued, amused by his choice of words. "I need you to remember what I told you when you asked me how you could defeat Voldemort."

Nodding, Harry's eyes flashed with pain nonetheless. "You told me my heart was my power." His eyes went from pained with remembrance to angry and glaring. "Why can't you just give me a straight answer!" He demanded angrily, fists shaking at his sides. He looked almost like he would strike the old man.

The air chilled considerably now, turning from comfortable warmth to unpleasantly frosty.

Sighing sadly, the taller Headmaster bent down to look Harry straight in the eyes, angry and addled emerald meeting penitent sapphire. "Because I don't know the answer Harry." He admitted quietly, shocking the Boy-Who-Lived. "I don't dare claim I understand what sort of power your heart wields... only that it will change all our fates."

Harry swallowed down his fear and doubt, the words ringing within his own heart. For a moment, the two looked each other in the eye.

And then abruptly, an acerbic, merciless agony cleaved his cognizance apart as the Boy-Who-Lived fell to the floor, clutching his scar that ached and burned.

Whirling about, Albus felt the coldness, like the very breath of the abyss, on him. "Oh no..."

* * *

Outside of Number Twelve, in the streets of London, a demon banished onto the Earth from the depths of Hell, known by the title Lord Voldemort, smiled. The very air seemed unnaturally warped and corrupted by his presence, and often, shadows not cast by light flickered around him. Imposingly tall, with an emaciated figure, skin like marble and yet dancing with umbra, and most curiously of all, a mark on his chest. .

It was in the shape of the imagined but false image of a heart, curved and defined, a deep jet black or perhaps darkened amethyst. Angry crimson lines slashed it in an X shape, giving it an ominous, unreal feeling.

Standing or perhaps floating next to him, as if shadows of this avatar of Darkness, were creatures of Nightmare, who fed on despair and misery, on the souls of men. Dementors.

But they were changed, subtly but irrevocably.

At the torso area of that writhing mass of mercurial cloak, there was that same but significantly smaller mark that the Dark Lord bore, a crossed out heart.

Around him, like a cacophonous, unholy symphony, screams erupted about the streets, terrors from the darkness of the soul devouring the minds of man, woman, child.

Raising his hand, the Dark Lord focused on a single shadow in the midst of the street. The dark came to life, taking the form of a small, less than a foot tall buggy creature with large, feral yellow eyes, jagged feelers, and tiny, dagger like claws. Smiling, Voldemort silently ordered it to attack.

The living shadow struck out at a nearby man, and immediately, he toppled, and a bright light lazily drifted out of his chest. The Dementors shifted slightly, hungering for the light, but nonetheless stood their ground. Instead, the light was absorbed by Lord Voldemort, drifting into where the crest stood.

Power like nothing the Dark Lord had known before pulsed within him, and he almost moaned with its seductive energy. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone, lost into the void inside of him.

And Voldemort wanted more.

To do his bidding, more and more shadows vivified themselves from the now tainted earth, all of them in the shape of the first shadow. Like a swarm of evil locusts, they deluged the crowd in a tide of Darkness.

Turning from this wonderful but distracting spectacle, the Dark Lord turned towards what was not there. Ancient magicks new and old, even the Fidelius Charm was placed over this hidden building. No one could possibly see, much less enter Grimmauld Place without the knowledge of the Secret Keeper.

But even magic must bow to a greater, older, and far more terrible force. Even magic cannot hide from and for greater Powers.

A glaring second sun shone from behind the wards, not even the ancient and formidable protections of the arcane able to conceal what was hidden within. It was a luminous beacon, all but beckoning to be destroyed. The aura of Harry James Potter, Boy-Who-Lived.

A wistful though came into Voldemort's head, that if only he had been able to use this power before, to track Potter. With that sort of aura, the boy would have had no place to run.

Thoughts and wishes were banished as the Darkness began its attack.

The Fidelius Charm, unrivaled in the ability to protect, could not stand up to such force.

Nothing can hide from the Darkness, which hides all. No one can escape the inevitability of Death.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore, long renowned as the most powerful sorceror of the age, felt his wards shatter like brittle glass, and his eyes widened and he stiffened just in time for the feedback of the power.

Harry's eyes widened as the professor was blown backwards into a wall with a loud crack, and then fell to the floor.

As a small drop of blood slithered down his ancient forehead, Dumbledore rasped softly, "He has broken the wards... remember Harry, your power is within your heart." He closed his eyes and slumped.

_**You hold the mightiest weapon of all... your heart. **_

Harry blinked slightly, disbelievingly, utterly rooted to the spot. What did that dream mean?

Before he could figure it out, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny came tearing down the corridor. The girls let out a scream as they saw the unconscious Dumbledore, and Ron gaped, managing a quiet, "Bloody hell..."

Hermione stood over Dumbledore's bleeding and comatose body, fear and tears in her eyes. "What happened Harry?" she asked, a small choke in her voice from terror.

Ginny turned towards Harry, understanding in her eyes. "It was Tom." She said. It was not a question.

Nodding, Harry placed himself wearily against the wall, the ache in his head now a dull throb. "Yeah." Dumbledore's words suddenly came back to him, and the weariness faded, panic entering his mind now. "He said the wards were broken! We have to get out of-"

He froze mid sentence.

"What?" Ron asked.

Harry didn't answer. He probably couldn't. For within the depths of his mind, an image of a demon, of Lord Voldemort himself, had sprung to life.

_I can see you Potter, _he hissed victoriously, _Nothing can hide you from my gaze. _

The teen fell back a step, fear clamoring at the edges of his psyche. His friends looked at him warily.

_I won't kill you just yet... I will first take what is now so obvious... let us see if this "Power the Dark Lord knows not" is so powerful. _

Blinking, Harry asked hoarsely. "How did you know?"

Glancing around edgily, Hermione said quietly, "How did who know?"

A deep, cold laugh- _like a blade on his cheek- _resonated in his mind. _Nothing can hide from me now Potter... the Darkness knows all!_

"Then you know I can destroy you!" The Boy-Who-Lived shouted angrily, defiantly, not believing a word he said. "I can stop you!"

"Harry mate, who are you-" Ron's words faded away.

The Dark Lord seemed amused, a malevolent chuckle bursting in his mind. _Stop me Potter? You can't... _

"I've done it before!" Harry raged furiously.

_True, _Lord Voldemort conceded with a slight bitterness, _But that was the old Lord Voldemort. I am beyond a Dark Lord now... I am a Dark god!_

A surge of pain struck at the young man, and he fell to one knee, wincing but still looking at his own mental image of the self proclaimed Dark god.

_You, and all inhabitants of this world will perish soon enough, Harry. For now, I will take the pleasure of annihilating you, the pathetic savior, by taking away your power... I will take your** heart**._

The image disappeared, fading away like it was never there.

"Harry! Harry!" Ron yelled desperately, shaking his best friend roughly.

As if he hadn't felt the violent movements inflicted on his body, as if he could not hear the desperate and frightened screams of his friends, Harry Potter whispered quietly, "They're coming."


	3. Chapter 2: Power To Protect

_"That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end"_

_-Lisa Hand _

Chapter 2 Power To Protect

"_They're coming..."_

Backing away slightly at the terrified, horribly certain Boy-Who-Lived, Hermione Granger and Ronald and Ginny Weasley stared at their frozen friend.

Eyes wide and rattled, Harry Potter staggered backwards. For a moment, he just stood there, staring with those stricken eyes at the unyielding floor.

Abruptly, he straightened, and then turned so suddenly that his friends were taken aback, even more so by his wild eyes, like a panicked beast. "Run!"

Ginny blinked in surprise. "What?"

Shaking his head wildly, scar an inflamed ruby color, the Boy-Who-Lived looked the epitome of the crazy hero... or maybe just a crazy. "Run!" he shouted again, and tore off down the corridor, towards the stairs.

"Harry, what about Dumbledore!" Hermione called after him, a note of flustered panic in her voice.

Whirling, Harry blinked nervously and yelled, "Wake him up!"

"Harry!" Ron cried out, and grabbed his shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes, a note of fear in his eyes and voice. "Mate, what's wrong?"

"They're coming! Don't you understand!" Harry shouted angrily.

"Who's-" that was all Hermione could say before an unmistakable, terrible, chilly feeling settled into the room.

"Dementors..." Ginny breathed quietly, fear entering her voice.

_Dear Tom... _

She stumbled to the floor, clutching her head. "No, no, no, I won't do it," She chanted brokenly, tearfully.

"Ginny!" Ron grabbed his sister and pulled her backwards, where Hermione was already.

"The Dementors must be downstairs," Harry whispered softly, the screams of his mother's last moments permeating his ears before he managed to pull himself far enough away from the stairs.

"But how-" Hermione's eyes widened and she gaped. "The wards?"

The Boy-Who-Lived gave her a grim nod. "We need to run. Wake up the professor."

"No need Harry." Albus Dumbledore said calmly, leaning heavily against the wall.

"Professor!" Four relieved voices cried out in unison.

The Headmaster gave them a small smile, full of sadness and sorrow. "Mister Potter is right. You must run."

Hermione cast him a strange, piercing look. "You meant _we_, right, sir?" She asked nervously.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No." A chorus of protests broke out, but he silenced them with the raising of his hand. "I must stay here and buy you the time you need to escape." He looked directly to the Boy-Who-Lived. "You must survive, Harry. Only you can undo what is happening."

"What _is _happening professor?" Harry asked quietly.

The professor sighed wearily. "Tom has given himself fully to the Darkness, and now it has consumed him, as it will consume this world and all others."

The students shot him a questioning look. "Other worlds?" Hermione asked skeptically.

To this, Dumbledore gave her an amused smile. "But of course. Our world is but one world amidst an endless sea of worlds." His face darkened. "But now the Darkness is consuming the worlds, starting with here." Once more, he looked to Harry. "You are the only one who can undo this."

"How!" Harry shouted, frustrated. "How can I save all these worlds, when I can't even save-" He broke off, a pained, sorrowed look on his face. They all knew what he was about to say.

_Sirus. Cedric. _

They expected this sixteen year old to save, not just one world, but all of them?

_Madness. _

He fell to his knees, whispering hoarsely, "I can't save anyone..."

Ginny placed a hand on his shoulder and knelt in front of him, her earth brown eyes looking into his. "You saved me." She murmured quietly.

Harry gazed at her in astonishment.

"She is right, Harry." Dumbledore said, a hint of pride in his voice. "You saved Miss Weasley when you were but a boy. You have escaped Lord Voldemort" the other's winced "Four times.. I know you can do this."

Hermione and Ron, not fully comprehending but still getting the basic understanding, nodded fervently in agreement.

"You and Ron saved me from a troll."

"You've pulled me out of more scrapes than I want to remember."

The Boy-Who-Lived gave Ron a sad, wry grin. "But I pulled you into them."

Groaning, his best friend slapped him on the back. "Harry, you're my best friend. My brother. I haven't always been there for you, but I'll try."

"Me too Harry." Hermione agreed, eyes shining with tears and happiness.

Ginny gave him a look. _I told you,_ she whispered silently.

Harry nodded in acceptance. He stood. "Okay then... how do I do it?" He asked, his trademark determination now resonating in his voice.

The Headmaster smiled proudly, not hiding any of the warmth from knowing that despite all obstacles and torments, this boy- no, this man- was unbowed, undaunted. "You must open the door."

_The door?_ Words flashed in Harry's mind

_**The day you open the door is both far off and very near.**_

Before Harry could say anything, the chilly evil of the Dementors returned. Dumbledore's persona changed immediately into his terrible, awing look of raw, relentless power. "Go Harry. There is a fireplace in Sirius' room. And remember, your heart is your greatest weapon." He shouted, then placed himself at the opening of the stairs.

"Dumbledore!" Harry shouted, trying to pull him back desperately, but Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, after getting a look from the Headmaster, grabbed Harry and dragged him backwards.

The look was plain.

_Protect him at all costs... he must not fall. _

Each of the three accepted and cemented the vow in their own hearts.

* * *

As the students rounded the corner, trying to find some other means of escape, Albus Dumbledore gave a small, quiet sigh, and then dropped the Headmaster persona forever. Now he was back to what he always hated... a warrior.

Eyes now dancing with untold power, air crackling about him as if charged with his energy, drawing himself to his full, regal height with wand drawn, he seemed every inch the greatest sorceror of the age.

And then the first of Voldemort's minions stormed the stairs.

Dementors, made more terrible by the awful Darkness that now dwelled in Tom, bearing the crest of that evil.

Steeling himself, the Headmaster roared, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A silvery phoenix tore through the air, casting its phoenix song, strengthening Albus but doing nothing against the Dementors, who normally were at least irritated by that song.

Luckily, the Dementors were still vulnerable to a Patronus, making it easy for his Fawkes Patronus to drive them off. As they fled down the stairs, however, _something _else took their place.

A swarm of shadowy, buggy, tiny creatures with large yellow eyes and feelers converged on him like a black tide.

Not quite sure how dangerous this new threat was, he decided to hit them with a powerful spell nonetheless. "Conglaciare!" he shouted, waving his wand in a wide arc, and a blast of arctic wind cut through the air and froze the first wave. In another moment, they shattered and dissolved into midnight smoke.

But for every one that was halted, three more swarmed over. There were many... too many, and would easily be able to overwhelm the professor in moments.

Except that this was Albus Dumbledore, champion of Light, the only one that the Dark Lord ever feared. With a powerful thrust of his wand and a cry, he sent a massive wave of fiery white light that annihilated the attackers.

As the smoke cleared, the Headmaster breathed slightly, relieved. However, it was to be in vain, as a second swarm of the shadowy creatures swelled up and flooded the stairwell. And behind them, larger shapes, but smaller than the Dementors, loomed ominously.

Like a black tide, they relentless assaulted Dumbledore.

* * *

Remus Lupin panted wearily, watching as his Stunner sent a Death Eater crashing into the wall, only to feel numb horror as his enemy got back up again.

There seemed no way to defeat the much smaller group of Death Eaters, who could take tremendous punishment and continue fighting. The source of this must have been the new mark on the Death Eaters, a dark purple heart crossed out with crimson lines, planted squarely on their chests. Whatever it was, it changed each and every one of their scents considerably.

"Frangere!" the angry vermilion light of the Shatter Curse blasted the mask of a second Death Eater, sending shards of the white mask into the face of the dark wizard. However, the man didn't even flinch or scream, instead sending forth a Shadow Flame Curse, which accented his blood streaked face, shadowing it with black light.

A hastily erected Shield Charm barely managed to deflect the stream of black fire, and then Remus counterattacked with a barrage of Strike Spells, which lifted the Death Eater bodily and into a wall. A large amount of the navy blue spells struck the strange crest, shattering it.

To his amazement and relief, the Death Eater did not get up... but then to his shock, the wizard dissolved into black smoke.

For a moment, he stared, open mouthed at the smoke that drifted lazily up into the sky. Then a Killing Curse rocketed past his head, causing the werewolf to throw himself to the ground.

Pulling his mind from the spectacle, he yelled to any Order members in hearing, "Hit the Crests! The crests!"

Nodding, the remaining Order members renewed their fight, none of them noticing the sky getting darker, and darker.

_Not noticing their fight was utterly meaningless.

* * *

_

A whistling noise echoed throughout the stairwell as the Fire Whip Spell smashed into the line of creatures, annihilating them with its force.

Albus Dumbledore's chest heaved with exertion as he watched the shadows dissipate into a black miasma.

A score of the small creatures, as well as half a score of a new type, a vaguely human shaped creature about a meter tall and with a purple heart crossed out by red lines on its chest, appeared. Silently but tenaciously, they stormed the stairwell.

Knowing that at this rate, his magic would be far too drained, the Headmaster put his faith and fate in one more spell. Out of all the spells he had learned in his century and a half existence, he had used this but once, when he dueled Grindelwald at the end of the Black War, also known to Muggles as World War II. Dangerous and powerful, it could easily magically cripple lesser wizards.

Feeling the power surge through his hand and into his wand, Dumbledore pointed his wand, glowing at the tip with deep amethyst light, at the seething mob. Power resonated about, the fabric of reality twisting and bending beneath the gathering force of the spell. "ULTIMA!"

The devastating force of the Ultima Spell completely devoured the shadowy creatures in its purple-black luminescence, shattering the stairs and scorching the walls, annihilating the very atmosphere it struck. As the energy finally spent itself on the bottom of the stairs, it dissipated with a large crack as the air rushed back in, along with a fog of black and white smoke.

Warily, the Headmaster glanced at the complete darkness that now eclipsed the view of the bottom of the stairwell, wand held high, ready for anything, except that he had no more magic. His reserves had been utterly depleted by the Ultima Spell, and had nothing more to give.

A high, cold laugh echoed from the Darkness, from within the Darkness. "The Ultima Spell, Dumbledore? You are desperate."

Sighing, the professor replied resignedly, "Show yourself Tom."

The Darkness manifested itself, forming a tall, skeletal shape, with crimson pinpricks gazing outwards, before finally revealing the Dark Lord. He glided towards the bottom of the stairs, darkened crimson eyes appraising the greatest sorceror of the age, and finding him lacking. "This time, _Headmaster,_ you will be the defeated." Lord Voldemort hissed spitefully, but he made no move to attack.

Albus Dumbledore looked at him with a pitying expression. "Tom... you've given yourself completely over to the Darkness. You've wrought a terrible wrong on this Universe." His gaze hardened slightly. "And that will be your downfall."

Bloody eyes sparked with rage. "My downfall!" the Dark Lord spat viciously, "This is my ascension, Dumbledore. This world... no, all worlds will become_ mine_."

"The Darkness does not protect or preserve, Tom. You will merely destroy all things, before you destroy yourself." The Headmaster replied, his voice tight and controlled despite his fatigue.

"You understand nothing." Lord Voldemort retorted angrily. "The Darkness will consume all things, and a new world, _my_ world, will be born from the blood and ashes."

"You and your world will be damned for eternity to nothingness. You have given away your heart, Tom. And without that, you are nothing." Dumbledore said, his tone almost lecturing.

Raising himself to his full, imposing height, the Dark Lord roared, "I AM THE DARKNESS! I AM ALL THINGS!"

"You are nothing." The Headmaster replied tersely, his sapphire eyes pitying. "You never understood what it meant to be human Tom... and now you never will."

"Enough talk." Lord Voldemort snarled, his tone laced with disgust. "I will take your heart now, and with you, will fall this world."

Albus Dumbledore still looked at his executioner with pity and remorse. "Even if you take my heart, plunge this world into the abyss Tom, you will never win."

The Dark Lord's eyes had a small spark of amusement. "If you are talking about the Potter boy, don't be foolish. I will deal with him as soon as you are gone."

Shaking his head, the Headmaster said softly, "You underestimate him. You underestimate his heart."

"I've heard enough old man!" Lord Voldemort shouted, and in a single movement, without even touching the broken stairs, appeared right in front of the Headmaster, his arm raised. With a terrible smile, he plunged his shadow covered hand into the chest of Albus Dumbledore.

The Dark Lord laughed sadistically, gleefully as he pulled free that spark of light, the heart of the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and absorbed it into himself. Albus Dumbledore's lifeless body toppled to the floor with a soft thump, drowned out by the echoing laughter of the demon responsible.

At long last, the Dark Lord had bested the greatest sorceror of the age.

* * *

Throughout the world, the death of Albus Dumbledore, while not actually known, was felt. The shadowy creatures suddenly doubled in number, and became far more resilient to an attack. The sky, if possible, darkened further, as if the heavens themselves shook at the death of the Headmaster.

As if the entire world had somehow been weakened by the demise of its greatest protector.

But the question remains... why?

One person in particular felt the death of the Headmaster, someone only a flight above. Harry Potter stumbled to the floor, hearing a sudden scream from the fabric of reality. "Something's wrong..." he murmured weakly, distractedly, leaning against the wall.

Ron grabbed his arm. "Come on mate, we gotta keep moving." He said softly, tugging on his friend's arm.

"R-right." Harry said haltingly.

And then the screams started.

Ron and Harry turned sharply, and were horrified to see Hermione kicking away some... shadowy thing.

"What the bloody hell was that!" the redhead shouted, shocked as he pulled the brown haired girl backwards.

"They're here..." the Boy-Who-Lived whispered, yet it was not fully his words. Or perhaps it was, and he merely did not understand their importance.

The shadow blinked up at them with feral yellow eyes, and its small claws opened up. As it was about to strike, it was struck by a brilliant red light.

Ginny looked at where the creature had been before she struck it with the Stunner, and found it laying against the wall. "Is it out?" Ron asked nervously, his legs pulling him backwards.

In answer, the foot tall creature leapt forward, its claws narrowly missing Ginny's chest. As it landed, it was struck by a barrage of spells, and dissolved into black smoke.

"What... was that?" Ron gasped, looking around anxiously as he placed his wand in his pocket.

"No idea." His sister replied, her wand still out.

The Darkness became heavier, and from the direction where they had come, a swarm of those same, bug-like shadows crawled towards them.

"Oh s-" Before Ron could finish his expletive, Hermione and Ginny pulled him backwards, with Harry following. They burst into Sirius' room, and caught sight of the cobweb strewn fireplace, complete with dust and soot. Not much of an escape route.

"Come on!" Harry shouted, urging them on.

"Where do we go?" Hermione asked, her voice a mix of fear and panic.

"Hogwarts should be safe." The Boy-Who-Lived replied, grabbing the pot of Floo powder and handing it to his friends. "Let's go."

"You first Harry." Ron said quietly, pushing his best friend slightly.

"But-" The raven haired boy turned back, looking at them.

"We'll be right behind you Harry." Hermione assured him adamantly, smiling.

"Alright..." Harry turned and grabbed the Floo powder, stepping into the fireplace, wincing as dust and soot fell on him. "Hogwarts!" The flames engulfed him, that familiar dizzying feeling overtaking his senses-

And he was thrown forwards, right back out of the fireplace with a loud thump.

"Harry!" his friends shouted in unison, helping him back up hurriedly.

"What happened?" Ginny asked, biting her lip nervously.

"Something's wrong with the Floo..." Harry trailed off, glancing at the door. "Oh no."

The shadowy creature was back... and he brought plenty of friends.

Ron swore an oath, and they drew their wands. Before Harry could blink, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron crowded in front of him, creating a human shield.

"What are you doing!" the Boy-Who-Lived shouted angrily.

"You heard Dumbledore Harry. You're the only one who can fix this. So we need to keep you safe." Ginny said quietly, raising her wand. Her voice had a slight tremor in it, and her hand shook slightly.

"Its our turn to protect you mate." Ron added, much calmer than his sister.

"No! I won't let you!" Harry nearly screamed, trying to push his way past his friends, but they held firm.

The shadows swarmed, claws flashing and gleaming in the dim light. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione fired off their spells, still keeping Harry back. The creatures retreated, lurking at the doorway, waiting to mass their strength again.

"Ginny." Ron said quietly, and his sister turned towards him. "Get behind me."

"What!" His sister exclaimed, eyes narrowing. "I can fight too."

"I know." Ginny's eyes widened as she heard the calm, proud tone in her brother's voice and the smile on his face. "That's why you need to keep Harry safe."

"Right." Hermione whispered softly, nodding.

"So when we give the signal, take him out of here. Try to get to my room, I have my broomstick there." Ron whispered, a resigned, yet slightly fearful tone in his voice.

Ginny felt a small tear run down her cheek. "Ron... Hermione..."

"We're counting on you Ginny." Hermione said, smiling slightly.

"Right, so don't mess this up." Ron added wryly.

The redhead slapped her brother's arm lightly. "Alright, same to you." She replied, a slight choke in her voice.

"What are you three talking about?" Harry asked, slightly suspicious, having only heard Ginny's early exclamation, and still being held back by Hermione, out of hearing of the whispered conversation.

His best friends turned to him. "Harry... remember, we love you." Hermione whispered softly.

"We'll always be right with you mate." Ron chipped in, smiling.

"What-"

"Now!" Ron and Hermione charged the shadows, wands held high. The creatures, surprised by the maneuver, scattered before them. The Boy-Who-Lived let out a surprised cry, and tried to grab them, to pull them back.

"Ron! Hermione!" he shouted, in a vain attempt to pull them back. Before he could, he found himself being dragged forward by Ginny, towards Ron's room.

"What are you doing!" Harry shouted angrily at her.

"Not letting their sacrifice go in vain." The redhead replied quietly.

Harry sputtered, and was about to shout when he heard the sounds of battle. He turned slightly to see his best friends battling against a score of the small, but dangerous creatures.

"RON! HERMIONE!" he yelled again, desperate.

"Just go Harry!" Hermione cried out, wincing as her Shield Charm was shattered.

He caught one last glimpse of his best friends, battling valiantly against the mob, and then was pulled around the corner, and he could see them no more.

* * *

As Ginny dragged the struggling Harry Potter into her brother's bedroom, she finally released him from her vice grip and scanned the room for Ron's Cleansweep. Before she could, the redhead found herself pulled around and slammed against the wall by a furious Boy-Who-Lived.

"Why the hell didn't you let me go back there!" Harry shouted, eyes shining with tears and voice tense with fury. "You had no right to do that!"

"They made the choice Harry. We'd have been gotten too if they didn't." Ginny replied quietly, glancing away.

"You had no right!" The raven haired boy hissed angrily, his face inches from hers.

"How dare you!" The redhead screamed back. "That was my brother, and my friend! I cared about them too!"

Before the shouting match could continue, a creaking noise of the floorboards being crunched was heard. They turned towards the door, where the shadows had converged again.

All the rage and fury that Harry had been holding since those past few minutes had gone by were boiling now, raging at the creatures who stole his best friends away as he fell to his knees.

Where was this damned "Power the Dark Lord knows not"! If his power was so damn great, where the hell was it!

Tears poured down his cheeks as he wept for his best friends. He felt a slight shifting, and Harry looked up to see Ginny Weasley, standing resolutely in front of him, firing off spells valiantly, but ultimately futilely. She screamed as one slashed her torso, sending rivulets of blood splattering to the floor. One shadow leapt straight for her, its claws cleaving the air, right for her heart.

Harry's anger soared, and he leapt forward, swinging his fist in an effort to push back the creature. He would not lose another friend, not today.

Something warm and powerful surged through his veins, changing him subtly, yet irrevocably.

In a brilliant flash of light, his swinging fist was gripping something solid and metal. Before Harry could react, the new object struck the shadowy creature, destroying it on contact.

In front of him, the shadows shrunk back in fear of the golden radiance.

"Harry... what is_ that_?" Ginny asked breathlessly, wincing at the wound in her side.

The Boy-Who-Lived looked at his hand and gasped in surprise.

In his hand was an oversized key of some sort, with a slightly shorter length and much thicker blade than the sword of Gryffindor he had used in his second year. Its handle guard was a square shape of deep amber, protecting a brown, soft hilt. At the end was a keychain, from which dangled a peculiar shape; three circles, a large circle with a smaller one attached to each side. The end was even stranger; a flat crown shape jutted out of the right side of the tip.

"I don't know..." Harry bit his lip, "But I think... I think somehow, I do."

"Yeah... that doesn't answer my question." Ginny said quietly.

"It's called the Keyblade." The Boy-Who-Lived whispered softly, gripping the weapon tightly, not knowing how he knew that. When his instincts screamed at him to drop the unfamiliar object, his heart told him otherwise. It felt... it felt as though he was holding a part of his heart in the palm of his hand, or meeting an old friend from childhood.

It was his, and it would give him the strength to protect his friends.

That was enough.


	4. Chapter 3: Into The Abyss

_"When you have come to the edge of all the light you have  
And step into the darkness of the unknown  
Believe that one of the two will happen to you  
Either you'll find something solid to stand on  
Or you'll be taught how to fly!"_

_-Richard Bach _

Chapter 3 Into The Abyss

It is Time.

After aeons of waiting, the Heart of All Worlds, Kingdom Hearts, is finally waking.

The Time of Judgement has arrived.

The Darkness has awoken, and now its wrath shall be felt across all worlds.

The Door must be opened, or all will be lost.

Dark times lie ahead, and an unclear, uncertain horizon filled with midnight is all that can be seen.

Hope is faint but existent.

The Light is dim, but fighting.

Existence still has a chance at survival. Heroes still stand at the ready, to defend their worlds.

But the heroes have been caught off guard.

The Darkness is strong, far stronger than the Light at its present strength.

Many will not survive the coming night.

Those who do... will lose everything.

And the fate of all worlds lies on the shoulders, on the decisions of one mortal boy plagued by grief and sorrow. The path he treads is perilous, on the edge of a razor, where madness, tragedy, and death await... and that is only if he can succeed.

His is a Destiny forged by tragedy and triumph, despair and hope, Light and Dark, Death and Rebirth.

He wields the Key.

He will open the Door, or Existence, Reality, the whole of Creation, will fall to Darkness.

And he, and he alone, will enter Kingdom Hearts, and discover what lies beyond the gates of Creation.

And should he fail, every single creature on every single world will know it.

* * *

"_Harry... what is that?" Ginny asked breathlessly, wincing at the wound in her side. _

_The Boy-Who-Lived looked at his hand and gasped in surprise. _

_In his hand was an oversized key of some sort, with a slightly shorter length and much thicker blade than the sword of Gryffindor he had used in his second year. Its handle guard was a square shape of deep amber, protecting a brown, soft hilt. At the end was a keychain, from which dangled a peculiar shape; three circles, a large circle with a smaller one attached to each side. The end was even stranger; a flat crown shape jutted out of the right side of the tip. _

"_I don't know..." Harry bit his lip, "But I think... I think somehow, I do."_

"_Yeah... that doesn't answer my question." Ginny said quietly._

"_It's called the Keyblade." The Boy-Who-Lived whispered softly, gripping the weapon tightly, not knowing how he knew that. When his instincts screamed at him to drop the unfamiliar object, his heart told him otherwise. It felt... it felt as though he was holding a part of his heart in the palm of his hand, or meeting an old friend from childhood. _

_It was his, and it would give him the strength to protect his friends._

_That was enough. _

They stood in silence for a few moments, just staring at the newly appeared weapon. Neither of them made a move to leave, entranced by the oddity.

Finally, Ginny managed to shake herself from the Keyblade's image, realizing that, in time, the shadows would return.

"Come on Harry... we'd better get to Ron's room before-" to prove the universe has impeccable timing, a mob of the shadow creatures stormed through the doorway once more, their fear forgotten.

The Boy-Who-Lived, more out of instinct and desperation than thought, lunged and swung the Keyblade, which sliced two of the creatures apart and caused the rest to pull back. Even before the smoke had fully wafted away, Ginny snapped into action, letting a barrage of spells loose, though she seemed pale and sickly from the effort.

One creature slashed at him, which Harry blocked with the Keyblade, and then shoved it backwards. Before it could recover, the Boy-Who-Lived spun out, using the momentum of his rotation to cut a path through the mob.

Two more swings of the key shaped weapon and a second wave of magic later, Harry and Ginny had pushed through the mob, hurtling towards Ron's room. After a moment, the mass of umbra recovered, and, like the ebb and flow of a tide, surged forward.

One creature lunged for him, but the Boy-Who-Lived managed to bring the Keyblade to bear just in time, cutting it in half. Snarling at the memory of what these _things_ had done to his friends, he lunged again, stabbing and hacking away at the teeming mob of shadows.

Ginny, meanwhile, had stuck close to Harry, covering him with a barrage of spells, though her body was begin to ache and protest at the constant movement.

The Boy-Who-Lived ducked low, avoiding a navy spell from Ginny and allowing it to strike one of the creatures. Without pause he lashed out, sending a few more of the creatures flying, dissipating them into black smoke.

After a few moments more of fierce fighting, the remaining creatures retreated, leaving the way to Ron's room open.

* * *

The Dark Lord had not moved a single inch from the place where he stood, the place of his greatest triumph. Laid low, heart stolen at his feet, was Albus Dumbledore, white hair splayed out on the floor.

Satisfaction was etched on his features, triumph shining in his crimson eyes. This was a glorious day, the true day of his ascension.

A slight movement behind him alerted Lord Voldemort that his servant had arrived.

Bellatrix Lestrange bowed lowly, and knelt. The crest on her chest twinkled darkly. "The Order is retreating." She reported tonelessly, as if dead.

"Excellent." The Dark Lord murmured softly, taking no offence at the fact that his servant added no honorifics. After all, heartless puppets were merely tools, not people. "How many have we taken?"

"Nearly all of this world has fallen to Darkness."

"Excellent."

Silence hung like a heavy smog.

"Begin preparing to move out. I will finish this world." Lord Voldemort said coldly, breaking the silence.

Standing and bowing once more the mindless doll that was once Bellatrix Lestrange faded into the Darkness.

A smile flashed itself across the demon's face. This world, and Potter, would fall. Like all other worlds.

Laughter echoed from the Darkness, within the Darkness.

* * *

The End of the World... no one knows for sure how it will come.

Some say in fire, some say in ice...

With a bang, with a whimper...

But the truth is, it ends in Darkness, with a howl.

It is unsure where the origin point of this abyss was placed, as it rampantly grew too fast and without warning.

A thin sheet of blank midnight swept across the Earth, hungrily devouring miles within minutes. Islands toppled in and sank into the abyss. Entire oceans drained into its voracious emptiness. Continents were enshrouded and devoured.

Without a single stop in the shadow's movement.

The only sound that most inhabitants of the planet heard before they were consumed by the mass of umbra was a terrible howl that chilled them to the core.

And for that, they should be thankful.

For to face that terrible void, that roaring nothingness, was to look into the very antithesis of existence, of light.

Something so terrible that no Good, not a single spark could exist within.

This awesome force ripped most from this world with blessed, painless ease.

And yet, the Darkness could not, would not ever, conquer all.

For some odd reason, the sweeping abyssal progress was slowed around a single house.

All around it, there was a terrible void, where nothing existed. And yet, this singular house stayed afloat longer than any other.

As if there was some force protecting the inhabitants from being absorbed by the malevolent darkness. An unseen, yet inherently potent force that was holding back something that had already taken half the planet, and was working on the rest.

This force, this light may be the only thing that could stop this Darkness... and it was trapped, isolated within one house.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

* * *

"God have mercy..." Harry whispered softly, gazing outside the window, where nothing but a gaping, howling abyss awaited.

Ginny hadn't spoken a word since they had looked outside, merely gaping at what lay beyond, frozen up completely. After a few moments, she managed a quiet, barely audible whisper. "What... what do we do now, Harry?"

"I don't know Ginny." The Boy-Who-Lived whispered softly, glancing at the Keyblade. It was silent, offering no answers save its comforting glow. He felt a chill sweep across his back and knew that the shadows were back.

With a spin, he brought the Keyblade to bear. Ginny followed suit, though fatigue was clearly etched into her features as she, with a shaking hand, raised her wand.

Harry, with a loud cry, leapt into the mob, hacking and slashing his way through them. Though he had no experience with the blade, he somehow moved with liquid, animalistic grace, spinning, ducking, weaving his way through the crowd with brutal efficiency that bordered on a berserk rage.

Ginny, for her part, was still wincing from the cut in her side, and constantly using magic was not helping her condition. She blasted one creature that got dangerously close to her backwards, and winced again, feeling blood flow in rivulets down her skin.

The Boy-Who-Lived spun, and the Keyblade whistled through the air, slicing apart yet another shadow. Without stopping, he lashed out, and the weapon hacked a creature standing to close to him into pieces. His ears were pounding, the adrenaline and intensity of battle completely overwhelming his senses, drowning all perception and narrowing it into a fine tunnel.

It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Fighting with the Keyblade seemed natural, familiar, the grace he wielded it with almost unnoticed by himself. It felt like the weapon was merely an extension of his soul, his heart; a weapon that sprang from deep within him. A power he had never known or even guessed at, was awakened within him.

_The Power the Dark Lord knows not... _

His reverie was broken as Ginny screamed. Harry turned slowly, just in time to witness a scene that would haunt him for days, weeks, months to come. One creature leapt for her, black claw outstretched, gleaming and ready to kill.

Harry's anguished shout seemed faint as he lunged forward, but it was too late, far too late...

Time slowed to a grinding halt, letting every horrifying second become an Eternity in the pits of Hell.

The claw pierced her chest, plunging into her torso. The redhead's eyes went blank and her body went slack as the creature attacked her. And then, with agonizing slowness it removed its claw, revealing a bright golden light in its grasp, with a small tinge of black.

And then time resumed, and the Keyblade slammed into the creature, slicing it apart with damnable ease. His cry of rage and hurt scattered the shadows for a little longer, while he clutched Ginny's unconscious body to himself.

Tears fell from his eyes. So many friends lost today... and for what?

He didn't even know what was happening! _What the hell was going on!_

Fury etched into his eyes, the Boy-Who-Lived let go of the redhead and lunged for the creatures, renewed tenacity in his strikes. He cut the first one down with ease, and the second, then a third, and a fourth. A shadow leapt for him, but with ruthless speed, he cut it apart in midair. One by one, the shadows seemed to melt before his rage.

As they faded away, Harry gasped deeply, sucking in breath after breath, but not exhausted. Not yet. Not with his pain and fury still raw, like an open, festering wound.

He felt the chills return, much deeper than before, and raised his head, Keyblade at the ready-

"Expelliarmus!"

And even as the Keyblade was thrown from his grasp, Harry Potter was thrown to the floor, unarmed before the smirking demon known as the Dark Lord.

Lord Voldemort smiled maliciously, raising his wand. "There is no mother to die for you, no Order to rescue you, no Dumbledore to save you. You are alone now, boy."

Harry's mind screamed at him to move, to try and find some way to escape the clutches of the Dark Lord once more. Then something shifted against his body.

His wand!

With a quickness borne of panic, the Boy-Who-Lived's hand shot for his wand-

But the Dark Lord was quicker.

"Accio wand." He said calmly, and grasped the summoned stick in his pale, shadowed hand. Lord Voldemort smiled wider...

And snapped the wand in two imperiously. With a contemptuous smirk, he threw the broken wand down, where a single phoenix feather drifted downwards. Symbolically, the Dark Lord stomped the faded red feather into the ground.

Harry's mind raced rapidly for an answer. The Keyblade was his only weapon, but it lay beyond the Dark Lord... next to Ginny.

Guilt and rage surged, twin forces that blazed in his eyes. He would make sure Ginny got out of this... no matter what. He wished with a feverish desperation for that strange weapon, hoping against all hope that it would be enough to save him and his friend.

As if answering its master's call for aid, the Keyblade dissipated into sparks and flew into Harry's hand. The momentary surprise was etched into both the Dark Lord and the Boy-Who-Lived's eyes.

Harry got over it faster, and swung the Keyblade, its teething edge first. The Dark Lord leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack. "Avada Kedavra!" he snarled, and the unholy green light rocketed towards the Boy-Who-Lived.

Throwing himself to the floor, Harry winced as wooden shrapnel rained down around him from where the Killing Curse had struck. Dust and debris scattered about, what remained of the demolished wall littered around his body.

The words of another Avada Kedavra sprang into action as he rolled aside again, but not unscathed. He screamed in agony as a wooden shard plunged into his side, but staggered to his feet nonetheless. The warmth of his own blood spilled over his fingers.

Behind him, Ginny still lay unconscious, unmoving and helpless.

Still, the fire, the spark of defiance was not gone from Harry's eyes.

"Defiant to the last, like your parents, I see." Lord Voldemort hissed softly. "Very well then. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

There was no dodging this one, no last minute saves or ideas... not with his mind still wracked with pain from the wound. Reflexively, he brought up his hand to shield himself... the hand with the Keyblade.

The Dark Lord's eyes widened as the vile emerald light of the Killing Curse was deflected upwards as it struck the luminous silver of the Keyblade. The light expended itself on the ceiling, where a large, burnt hole had appeared in its wake, along with a rain of dust and debris.

Harry gasped as he realized he wasn't dead, and took the initiative, bringing his weapon down towards the Dark Lord's chest, where the crest was held, hoping he could damage the Dark Lord.

It was in vain.

The shadows around Lord Voldemort coalesced into a protective corona of midnight, and blocked the attack.

The teen barely had time to gape before a vicious tendril of darkness lashed out, driving the breath from his body as he felt it crunch against his stomach. With a loud thump, he landed on the floor, barely hanging on to consciousness.

Lord Voldemort smirked, but there was some hint of fear in his eyes as he spoke. "Even the Keyblade will not save you this time, Potter."

To drive the hopelessness of the situation home, the walls behind him buckled and collapsed into the ever growing abyss outside.

The sound was the worst... an unholy, utterly terrible howl of absolute Darkness as it hungrily devoured the world.

"Between the Devil and the deep blue sea, I'd say, Potter." The Dark Lord said calmly, still wearing that damnable smirk.

Desperation set in once more, and Harry felt warm blood running down his side, slithering down his leg. Reaching out, he grasped the wood, and with a sickly sucking sound, removed it from his side and threw it away.

It was over, he knew. Either he could allow himself to die by Voldemort's hand, or let that terrible, howling void devour him.

There was no way out this time... no one to die for or protect him. At long last, his long, painful life had come to a bitter end.

A slight glimmer of light appeared next to him, some semblance of light reflected in red hair. Ginny...

She didn't deserve to die here... hadn't Voldemort done enough to her?

He had already violated her body, forced her to become his puppet... Harry would rather die than see anyone, especially her, be affected by Voldemort's evil anymore.

He would never, never allow that Darkness to hurt anyone anymore.

He would protect her... no matter what.

But there was only two ways to leave this place.

There was certain Death on one hand... and the howling abyss on the other.

Quick death, or into the black unknown.

For this one moment, everything hung in the balance. All of existence, every being, though most did not realize it, held their breath, waiting in breathless, terrified anticipation of the decisions made today, at this one critical crossroads.

Everything hinged on Harry Potter's next choice.

A small smile quirked its way to the face of the Boy-Who-Lived. Lord Voldemort's eyes narrowed in consternation.

If he could spite, escape the Dark Lord one more time, defy him just once more... that alone might make it worth it.

He would never submit to the Darkness.

_Never._

Sucking in a breath, Harry spun, grabbed Ginny Weasley, and threw himself into the roaring, endless abyss...

Nothingness, terrible howls and arctic cold devoured his senses...

And he knew no more.


	5. Chapter 4: Not With A Bang But A Whimper

"_This is the way the world ends_

_This is the way the world ends_

_This is the way the world ends_

_Not with a bang but a whimper."_

_- "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot_

Chapter 4 Not With A Bang But A Whimper

_For this one moment, everything hung in the balance. All of existence, every being, though most did not realize it, held their breath, waiting in breathless, terrified anticipation of the decisions made today, at this one critical crossroads._

_Everything hinged on Harry Potter's next choice. _

_A small smile quirked its way to the face of the Boy-Who-Lived. Lord Voldemort's eyes narrowed in consternation. _

_If he could spite, escape the Dark Lord one more time, defy him just once more... that alone might make it worth it._

_He would never submit to the Darkness._

_**Never.**_

_Sucking in a breath, Harry spun, grabbed Ginny Weasley, and threw himself into the roaring, endless abyss..._

_Nothingness, terrible howls and arctic cold devoured his senses... _

_And he knew no more.

* * *

_

Throughout the entirety of Reality, most beings go day to day, blissfully unaware of the tiny, invisible barriers that separate one world from the next. Endless possibilities, an endless sea of worlds that is invisible to the eye.

Events that scar one world are completely and totally irrelevant to another.

Wars that slaughter millions, shatter lives, topple cultures, are unimportant to a different world. A life lost on one world is of no consequence to another.

This is the way it has been for aeons.

But, at long last, all worlds have but one destiny.

To fall to Darkness, or to be saved by the Light.

Among the trillions upon trillions of lives, the endless multitude of worlds, only a few can save Reality.

And in the end, only one truly matters.

Only one can undo what Darkness, what Fate has wrought.

And that one person has just fallen into the abyss.

But Darkness, and the universe, does not stop, even for the only person who can make a true difference.

For now... now the End has begun...

The countdown to oblivion.

* * *

In another world, another time...

Something was wrong. The wind... the wind had changed, somehow. A subtle, intangible quality of the world itself was not right.

Uneasy, the half demon Inuyasha clutched his sword, the Tetsusaiga worriedly.

"Is something the matter, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, her soft brown eyes filled with worry.

"I... something doesn't smell right." The half demon replied, tense. For the first time, he truly, desperately wished that Miroku and the others had come with them to the well. They weren't too far from the village, but...

"Kagome! Run!" Inuyasha shouted, ripping his sword from its sheath. The battered katana was transfigured by golden light, becoming a massive, thick blade with a furred hilt.

Immediately, the shadows around them burst to life, innumerable shapes of umbra swarming around them. Some were small, bug like things, some were tall and lanky, but all were Evil.

With a snarl, the half demon leapt forward, and his blade lashed forward, creating a wave of annihilating golden light. "WIND SCAR!"

For a moment, the figures took form. Short, lanky forms made out of pure shadow, buggy little things with golden eyes, and then others that were indiscernible as the awesome power of the Wind Scar obliterated them from this existence.

"Feh. Easy." Inuyasha muttered, placing the massive blade casually over his shoulder with one hand. But still, despite his bravado, he knew something was still terribly wrong...

With Everything.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered softly.

Her soft, slightly frightened voice shook his attention back to where the shadows had been. Within the smoke, shapes took form.

A score, then two score, and then a hundred, and then perhaps a thousand...

Swearing, the half demon grabbed Kagome and leapt off, back in the direction of the village. He glanced backwards a second, and a spasm of fear crossed his heart. With renewed determination, he leapt again, trying to outrun the ever advancing wave of shadows that had already devoured most of the countryside.

Trying to outrun the inevitable.

* * *

Elseworlds...

Hurrying along the darkened street, Robin Sena glanced up at the sky every second or so worriedly. The streets were empty, seemingly dead.

Her heavy, black dress dragged against her, but she moved fluidly, her feet lightly tapping the street, her small silver crucifix dangling against her chest.

For minutes, perhaps an hour since she felt something wrong with the world, the witch had run, trying to find... anyone.

Robin's panic blinded her so much that she ran headlong into a black clothed figure in front of her. Strong, masculine arms grabbed her shoulders, and she found herself looking into the impassive obsidian eye's of her partner.

"Amon!" she said, surprise in her emerald eyes.

"Why are you running?" Amon asked, subtly reaching for his pistol and scanning the street for what could have panicked the normally sedate girl.

"I've got a bad feeling..." Robin murmured, slightly ashamed of how childish she sounded.

To her surprise, Amon replied, "Me too. Something isn't right here. We should head over to Headqua-"He sucked in a breath, and pushed her aside, raising his gun, firing off a three round burst.

Robin turned in time to see the bullets pierce what looked like a living shadow. The creature staggered backwards, but didn't go down the way another being would, after being shot in the head thrice.

Placing her glasses on her face, Robin narrowed her eyes, focusing her Craft. Immediately, a fire engulfed the shadow, burning it from existence.

"There's more of them." Amon said calmly, but the slight tremor in his voice was detectable as he raised his pistol. _What the Hell is going on?_

And there were, at least a score of indiscernible shadows leaping and bounding and loping across the darkened street. Effortlessly, they dodged Amon's barrage of fire, and even avoided being burned by Robin's Fire Craft.

As Amon's pistol clicked empty, Robin panted slightly, constant use of her pyrokinetic abilities draining her.

"Come on. We've got to go." He said gruffly, and grabbed her arm.

"Alright." The witch said breathlessly, hurrying down the street.

Together, they ran, not noticing the black void the sky had become.

* * *

"What the hell are these things!" Inuyasha roared, letting yet another Wind Scar send the creatures into oblivion.

As always, where one, two, a dozen fell, a score of these prenatural monsters surged forward, a deluge of shadow.

Kagome didn't answer, preferring the action of stringing an arrow into her bow to words. With a slight snarl on her face, she fired off an pink swathed arrow, which cut through the shadows effortlessly.

Though they fell by the dozen, they swarmed by the score.

Desperately, Inuyasha grabbed the girl again and leapt off, once more trying to outpace the shadows. He nearly paused as Kagome sucked in a breath and let out a fearful whisper. "Inuyasha..."

The half-demon glanced upwards and did pause.

"The sky... it's gone..." Kagome murmured quietly, gripping Inuyasha's back tightly.

And indeed, it was. Where a night sky that twinkled with innumerable stars had been, there was now just a black abyss that advanced with a will. It was coming towards them, slowly devouring their world.

"The village!" the girl realized, and her head craned in the direction of the small village that was like her second home. "Sango! Miroku! Shippo! Kirara!"

Inuyasha turned as well, and a brief horror spread over him, before it was washed away in a tide of fury. "I'm going to kill the bastard who did this." He snarled, clenching his claws reflexively.

"Behind you!"

In their horror, both of them had forgotten the advancing tide of shadowy creatures. But now they were nearly upon them, pressing them closer and closer to the abyss.

"Shit." _There's no way we can fight them all off... _the half demon realized, but grabbed the Tetsusaiga anyway.

"What do we do?" Kagome asked, afraid.

"Stay behind me. I'll protect you." Inuyasha assured her, raising his fang-like blade in an attack stance.

Before anything more could be said, the shadows crashed upon them.

They were too close to use the Wind Scar, so the half demon hacked them apart, the massive Tetsusaiga capable of cutting three in one stroke.

Kagome fired off a few arrows, thinning the ranks further, but her rate of fire was slow, as to avoid hitting Inuyasha, and thus, unable to provide adequate cover fire.

But this stand could not last forever, as the abyss howled it's triumph, devouring more and more earth, the distance between it and the two closing at an unholy pace.

"Inuyash! It's getting closer!"

"Damn it..." the half demon growled, and cleaved another shadow to pieces. Momentarily, he wavered and looked back.

It was a mistake.

The shadows, out of some nefarious will, leapt over the half demon, lunging for his charge.

With eyes wide in horror, Inuyasha watched as they struck out at Kagome, who stumbled backwards, stepping ever closer to the edge of oblivion.

As he moved to catch her, the shadows swarmed up, forming a wall of darkness that impeded his progress considerably.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" his blade cut them down in twos, threes, and fours, but still they held. A small part had formed, a cruel favor of the Powers, so that he could watch the girl's end.

Kagome screamed as they plunged a claw into her chest, before her body went slack and her scream faded away. A light was held in that creature's claw, _her_ light.

For one moment, Inuyasha stared at the scene, unable to comprehend that he had finally failed the girl, finally been unable to protect her.

It would haunt his nightmares for years, perhaps forever. It had already haunted his dreams once... but reality, as always, is so much worse than dreams.

And then Kagome fell into the abyss, and was lost to him.

A terrible, heart rending howl let itself be known from Inuyasha's throat, the feral side, his dog demon side coming forth. His eyes narrowed in a hateful rage, and the half demon leapt for the shadows, revenge the one agenda in his narrowed consciousness.

A Wind Scar burst forward, sending those that had taken Kagome away into oblivion, but before that light had even faded, the half demon had already swung his blade again, sending another group into nothingness with a wave of golden light.

The upper hand lasted for only a moment, as the creatures began to drown him in their tide.

"I'll kill you!" Inuyasha roared, and swung his blade, slicing them apart, and then again, and again, and again, a berserker rage taking him over.

One tried to ambush him by leaping from behind, but the half demon's senses were on overdrive, and he spun, blade outstretched to greet the shadow.

Another slashed his shoulder with its claw, but Inuyasha grabbed the creature by the arm, and hurled him forward, bashing away another group of the monstrosities.

But one managed to slash at his gut, and another struck his arm, and soon he was unable to swing his sword, their proximity too close to him to wield the large blade.

One particularly fierce one struck him in the stomach, and sent Inuyasha hurtling into the abyss.

And it was over.

* * *

"God in Heaven... all those people..." Robin breathed softly, sorrow in her heart and tone. A blank wall of nothingness had swallowed up the city, and everyone in it. She wanted to sink to her knees, but held fast, instead looking to her impassive partner. "What do we do Amon?"

"We need to get out of here." The witch hunter replied calmly, but from the slight clench in his fists and tightness on his face, he was nervous. After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed Robin's hand, tugging her along towards his car.

However, that moment of hesitation cost them dearly, as the shadows caught up with them, bounding across street lights and walls. Some actually landed on top of the car, cutting off the final escape route.

"Shit." Amon cursed, and raised his pistol, firing off three bursts, more to slow down the mob than do any real damage. The shadows avoided the bullets with prenatural grace, claws outstretched to deal out oblivion.

A column of blazing fire however, put a stop to that instantly, and the monsters were swallowed by a roaring inferno, which briefly, but powerfully shoved the darkness back to the edges of sight.

Briefly, the witch hunter wondered if they should run off again... but that would only waste energy against the inevitable.

What can one do, when the whole world falls to darkness?

_Fight._

As if sensing that determination, Robin stood up straighter, and her eyes narrowed, sparking with a fierce flame.

Shadowy creatures became immolated in a cloak of flame, entire groups were decimated by one roaring inferno, and yet still, they kept coming.

For the first time, Amon cursed the fact that he was born without the ability to use a Craft, and raised his weapon. Planting himself firmly on the ground, he fired careful shots, each designed to stun rather than finish.

Whenever one creature bypassed the fiery assault, Amon would shoot him down, allowing Robin to burn the creature into smoke and ashes.

The defense was effective, even allowing for a few tense seconds when the pistol needed to be reloaded.

However, Amon only carried three extra clips, and had already used the first up. As his third and final clip of ammo began to dwindle, Amon cursed.

This was not the only problem, as Robin's body and mind were feeling the intense strain of calling on so much of her Craft at such a rate.

Soon, they began getting too close, their claws moving too near...

And then suddenly Amon and Robin were on the defensive, trying to hold back a relentless tide of shadows with bullets, fire, and soon, fists and feet.

But beyond that, raced the new threat. A wall of advancing umbra, howling its perverse joys into a dying world, devoured ground, and was quickly and rampantly about to be on top of them.

And Amon knew that this was the end, and accepted his. But not Robin... the girl was too pure, too _good_ to end here. Somehow, he knew it.

Which was why he would keep fighting till the certainly bitter end.

Robin, for her part, sagged backwards, unable to use her powers further. It was a feeling she had never known... never had to use so much power so quickly.

For the first time, she found her true limit...

And it wasn't comforting.

Mostly because now the shadows were able to actually leap forward, as one did, nearly taking her head off with its claws.

Only the timely physical assault by Amon managed to keep the creature from slaying her, but even he, for all his training and strength, was no match for these abominations bare handed.

Like a snake, they grasped the witch hunter, and struck out at him, tearing into him, searching for... something.

"Amon!" Robin gasped, and lunged for him, but one shadow struck her.

The witch stumbled backwards, winded but not injured. She managed to catch a glimpse of Amon's unshaven face for just a second.

They stared at each other, neither one blinking... and then the moment was gone, like all others, and the man's eyes went dark and dull.

Robin, mercifully, only had a few moments to scream before the howling abyss drowned her out, and then drowned her in itself.

* * *

Across every world, it was the same story, as people in the worlds looked up, and were afraid. And a few, looked up and saw that other worlds were swallowed up in shadow.

Yet none could stop it.

* * *

"Syaoran... I'm scared."

"Don't be... I'll protect you, trust me."

"Besides, we're here too, and if the brat can't help you, we can."

* * *

"Kenshin! What's happening!"

"Stay behind me! You and Yahiko stay in the dojo!"

* * *

"What's going on Tai?"

"I don't know sis... but it's not good."

* * *

"What's going on Yami?"

"... Darkness is coming."

* * *

"Mein Gott in Himmel... what the hell is that!"

"I don't know... I don't know."

* * *

"What's happening?"

"Don't ask me, dead last."

"Shut up, bastard!"

* * *

"Stay close to me. I won't let anything happen to you, Yuna."

"I can fight too! I'm not letting you go out there alone."

* * *

Gripping the railing of her balcony, a queen looked into the sky, and saw beyond, saw what was happening.

"It's begun then... but where is the Key?"

One being's will commanded this massive orchestra of destruction and death, and watched with sadistic glee as hundreds, then thousands, then millions of hearts fell to his power. A swirling storm of stolen light hurtled towards him, bringing him power that was unmatched, and yet his potential had only been brushed.

With every heart that struck him, the Dark Lord laughed.

His consciousness was expanding rapidly. He could see through the eyes of his minions, whose number outmatched the stars in the sky, as if, and they were, and extension of himself, of his will, and his mind.

He was transcending mortality... becoming a god. Now, everything he wished could come true at last.

A new world... without Death, without Pain, free from Mudbloods and Muggles...

His utopia.

But for now... for now he needed to pure the elseworlds.

The Dark Lord could see... he could see worlds untamed, worlds of science, worlds of magic, worlds of criminals, worlds of war, worlds of peace, all of them... ripe for the taking, a field of untapped power waiting to be harvested.

And beyond that... a glow, a bright, thrumming power that echoed throughout Eternity... the Heartbeat of the Universe.

It was wonderful... so ancient, so powerful... this was what he needed...

The key to his paradise.

Triumphantly, the Dark Lord knew his time had come.

He reached for that power, but was repelled... a barrier, one older than Time, older than the Eternities, angrily shoved at him.

_Only the Key will open the Door, _it spat hatefully.

"The Keyblade..." the Dark Lord hissed softly. "Potter..."

Of course that damn boy would be in the way... he was always there, blocking the ascendant path to Godhood, forever against him...

It was poetic justice that the boy be his sacrifice when that pure, untainted world rose from the graves of all worlds.

The Darkness, his creatures, heard the name, and it burned into their minds... they would hunt the boy until the Key was taken and he was dead.

Deep within the impenetrable abyss, Lord Voldemort laughed.


	6. Chapter 5: Crawling In The Dark

_"You must be strong now. You must never give up. And when people make you cry and you are afraid of the dark, don't forget the light is always there."_

_-Anonymous _

Chapter 5 Crawling In The Dark

Darkness...

Darkness... that was all he could see. Deep, eternal, forever.

Darkness was All.

Within those shadows was everything wicked and wrong, every possible sin and evil imaginable. Murder, rape, slavery, abuse, matricide, patricide, suicide, hatred, corruption, extinction, genocide...

Darkness.

The bitter, prenatural cold of the abyss rended flesh and bone, cleaving into his soul, laid him bare before the darkness, alone and naked.

He screamed, but the shadows swallowed it up with silence.

* * *

Inuyasha blinked slowly, trying to assure himself that he still existed. Opening his mouth, he spoke. "Where the hell..." his amber eyes tried to scan the darkness with his demonic senses, but found nothing.

Just an empty abyss.

It felt suffocating.

It felt like being trapped against that damned tree again, locked in eternal sleep, forever...

There was no way in Hell he'd go back to that.

"Kagome? Kagome!" he shouted, trying to call back the lost girl, but his voice found only himself as a listener. Panic set in, and instinct took over. The girl he swore to protect was lost to the shadow, and he was stuck in this abyss.

Desperately, he clawed, like a rabid dog, at the endless wall of umbra, punching and slashing and kicking and swearing. But the shadows did not yield.

Like a prayer, he screamed Kagome's name again and again... and his prayers went unheard, if any deity could even hear him in the silent darkness.

* * *

Robin blinked, before realizing that her eyes were working, the problem was that there was nothing but endless shadow... everywhere.

Was this Hell?

Certainly seemed Evil enough... but lacked the fire and brimstone she always imagined it would hold.

Then again, her Fire Craft would make that pointless...

It was quiet... far too quiet, even for her taste.

The witch whipped her head around, trying to find... anything. Any light at all. Her emerald eyes scanned with desperation, bordering on panic.

But there was nothing... nothing but Darkness.

When she realized just how disturbed she was, Robin forced herself to calm down, gripping her crucifix tightly in one hand. Almost reflexively, she began to pray.

"Yea, though I walk in the valley in the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."

* * *

Harry Potter blinked. Something was changing... a paradigm shift.

Suddenly his feet were standing on some sort of solid ground, and there was something to brace against. And then his hand was gripping the Keyblade, the soft, reassuring light bringing his thoughts together.

_Where's Ginny?_ He whipped his head around, but found no one else but him.

No... that wasn't true. There was _something_ beyond his sight, a creature shifting in the dark.

"Come out! I can see you!" Harry shouted, raising the Keyblade.

The creature responded, and the Boy-Who-Lived sucked in a breath, watching the leviathan rise from the abyss.

"_Potter..._" the monster hissed, shifting itself upright.

It was a monstrous, massive thing, crafted out of shadow and evil. Two pillar-like legs kept a house-like torso above the ground, and arms as thick as tree trunks flexed, tipped by sword like claws. And above that all was its head, grotesquely disproportionate to its body, with large, intelligent yellow eyes and no mouth with which to speak. At the center of its chest was a large, heart shaped hole that went clean through.

_Darkside..._ his mind whispered to him, though he did not pay it any mind, other than that the creature had a name.

Trying to master the fear that was swelling within him, Harry fell a few steps back before regaining control.

"_Potter!"_Darkside roared, and swung its fist downwards, nearly crushing Harry. The ground should have shaken with the force of the blow, but physics seemed to have been tossed out the window here.

Without thinking, Harry swung the Keyblade forward, slicing into the creature's fist. It howled in agony, but didn't move its fist.

The reason why became apparent as a pit of shadows bloated forward, nearly catching the Boy-Who-Lived's feet before he hurled himself backwards.

To his horror, a trio of the bug-like shadows that he had fought before began to crawl out of the abyss.

His surprise nearly cost him his life as they hurled themselves at him. Luckily, Harry's reflexes saved his life, managing to bring the Keyblade to bear in time, just as the first monster came within striking distance.

With a spin slash, he managed to finish the last two off...

But forgot Darkside.

A loud roar of the air caused Harry to turn, just in time to see an enormous, jet black fist crash into his chest.

The pain was incredible, almost as terrible as possession by Voldemort, or the Cruciatus curse. He could feel bones straining against the impact, and was positive that at least a few ribs had been broken.

With a loud crash, he hit the floor, wheezing and coughing, feeling the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, running down his lips.

Without mercy,Darkside's fist crashed down again.

* * *

Inuyasha clawed and hissed like a rabid dog, slashing at the immovable shadow. He was trapped... suffocating, choking from the dark.

Kagome smiling, laughing face, so kind and pure...

Darkness crept at the edges of his vision.

"_I want to be by your side, always..." Kagome whispered softly, holding his hand in her warm one, her earth brown eyes soft and kind, smiling that smile, just for him. _

He would give anything to see that again.

"KAGOME!" he screamed, and tore the Tetsusaiga from its sheath, roaring his defiance to the Dark.

"I WON'T DIE HERE!" Inuyasha roared rebelliously, and his sword blazed bright crimson, from tip to furred hilt.

The half demon shouted his defiance, and the crimson shine of his blade struck out at the darkness.

As if it were a living wall, the shadows grew thicker, resisting the Tetsusaiga's power and attempting to shove Inuyasha back.

His muscles strained with the effort, but the half demon paid it no mind, his whole will bent on cutting through the abyss.

Though the Dark was strong, it could not match the will of this singular soul. Slowly but surely, the darkness began to give way, shadow melting away in the bright crimson light.

The whole of his body screamed at him to stop, but Inuyasha struggled on, refusing to die, refusing to be lost.

With one more defiant shout, he brought the burning Tetsusaiga down into the shadows, slicing through the Dark...

And then everything was pure ivory...

And Inuyasha lost consciousness, dreaming of Kagome's smiling face.

* * *

Harry's body ached. Every swing of the Keyblade made his arms burn, and his vision was getting narrower and narrower.

And yet he fought on.

Darkside seemed to have an endless supply of those creatures, its fist an endless spawning pool for the monsters.

An oath flew from Harry's lips as the massive fist came crashing down, nearly turning him into pulp. Before he could bring the Keyblade to bear, the other fist tore through the air with impressive force.

Somehow, the Boy-Who-Lived brought his weapon up just in time to block, but the sheer power of the attack sent him crashing backwards again, and his body screamed in protest. As Harry brought his head up, lest he be struck again, he sucked in a breath.

Without warning, the titanic creature knelt, arms bent backwards, and an eerie purple light began to shine from the hole in its chest.

"What the-"

Before he could finish, a ball of raging amethyst light hurled itself forward, smashing into the Boy-Who-Lived with incredible force. The light washed over him, and Harry screamed, his flesh burning with incredible pain.

Staggering backwards, still screaming, he smelt the acrid stench of smoke and seared flesh and gagged.

His pained fingers begged him to drop the Keyblade, but something inside of Harry forced him to keep hold.

Blinded by pain and smoke, the Boy-Who-Lived was helpless before the Dark.

But even asDarksideraised itself back up, fist poised to strike, two lights began to shine at the edges of the abyss...

* * *

Prayer wasn't working.

Robin felt herself on the edges of despair, her control beginning to slip away. The Dark was so large, and she was only one soul...

But as she began to panic, words from a kindly nun in her childhood returned to her...

"_God helps those who help themselves."_

Her emerald eyes narrowing in determination, the witch began to draw out her Fire Craft. But it seemed almost impossible, as if the shadows were determined to swallow up any light.

Fighting back the despair in her heart, Robin concentrated harder, attempting to dig deeper into that well of power that she carried within her soul.

And still, nothing but shadow reigned.

Her body began to shake with effort, but Robin continued to push deeper into herself, willing that fire to come to life, to bring itself forth.

As desperation set in, barely ahead of panic, the witch felt something change.

Almost miraculously, a single spark of flame danced in front of her eyes. But it wasn't enough, as the Darkness rose, ready to smother that spark of light.

With a thought, that blaze became an inferno, a roaring one, full of defiance and power. The shadows began to melt away, even as Robin felt her body finally reach its limits, and she closed her eyes, hoping that the nightmare was finally over.

_But in truth, the opening act had just begun... and the finale would be a **showstopper.

* * *

**_

"_You're fading fast, boy."_ The voice of Lord Voldemort hissed... perhaps it was truly the Dark Lord, or perhaps merely a figment of his dying mind...

Nonetheless, Harry Potter knew he was finished. His body was failing, his breath growing shorter and harder, and he could feel his soul slipping away like sand in his fingers.

Darksideroared a silent ovation to its own triumph, seemingly satisfied with its victory.

However, even as it seemed that all other lights had gone out, hope still existed.

Hope existed in the form of two lights from two very unique souls.

It grew in the way hope always does. At first small and very faint, too far away... but closer and closer, brighter and brighter the light of hope begins to shine.

And when hope finally arrives, it arrives with a _vengeance_.

Light poured into Harry, down his hair and to the tips of his fingers, before lighting up the Keyblade.

He gasped as the weapon began to transform, as if deified by the light. It grew longer, thicker, and still shined with the light. It seemed even lighter, even purer, even more right than ever.

The darkness fled from the light, driven out by its majesty.Darkside roared again, this time out of anger and fear, and pulled back its fist.

_Strike,_ a voice whispered softly, gently.

And so he did.

With one last shout of pure defiance, Harry brought the luminous Keyblade down, splittingDarkside straight down the middle, cutting apart the Dark with effortless ease...

Just before the world exploded in a whirlwind of noise and shadow-

And he blacked out.

* * *

How long Harry had laid there, swallowed up by the endless dark, he didn't know. His body felt heavy, weighed down by loss and by pain.

Everything was so...

Pointless.

How could doing nothing, just lying their amidst a sea of shadow be so... exhausting.

The darkness pressed in, hungry.

It was as if all the lights had gone out throughout the Universe, and all was silence and shadow.

Where was the light to this shadow...

_Extinguished... forever faded..._

Like he would be.

Finally, managing to move his mouth to speak, he whispered, "My soul is tired..."

He closed his eyes...

And the world changed.

* * *

_It was white... an endless lack of color, untainted and yet empty._

_Harry Potter opened his eyes wearily. "Am I dead?"_

"_Close. But not quite yet, kid."_

_Whirling around, the Boy-Who-Lived sucked in a breath, if there was any air in this ethereal place._

"_Sirius?"_

_Sirius Black smiled at him warmly. He looked... healthy, more like the young man in his parent's wedding photo, as if those years in Azkaban faded away in an instant. "Hey there."_

_His throat tightened, an invisible noose. "H-how..." Harry whispered disbelievingly. _

"_Because of where you stand Harry. You're at Death's doorstep, floating in the Void... you're close to death Harry... but it's not your time, so someone's got to help get you back on your feet." The Animagus grinned at him. "And there's two people who'd like to meet you..."_

_If his throat had been tight before, now it was impossible to breathe, impossible to speak._

"_You've grown." James Potter said softly, smiling, arm around his wife, who looked much the same way as Harry. _

_Lily Potter stepped closer to her son, smiling with tears shining in her eyes. "My baby... can you forgive us?" she asked quietly, embracing him warmly, a gesture that Harry always ached for. "I wish we could have been there for you, raised you, been there for you..."_

_And still, Harry could not speak._

_James clapped his wife's shoulder, looking down on his son with that gaze of fatherly pride that made the Boy-Who-Lived finally start crying, and at last, Harry could speak._

"_I... I missed you all... so much..." he paused, a sob overwhelming him._

"_And we missed you... but now is not your time. This is not your day to die, Harry." Sirius said quietly. _

"_It hurts..."_

"_I know, I know." Lily whispered, brushing aside a tear gently, lovingly. "But you can't die yet Harry... too much is at stake."_

"_Fate... Destiny... won't allow it." Sirius said, clapping Harry's shoulder, his face serious for a moment. But then a grin, a grin he had only worn in pictures appeared. "So buck up kid, and give 'em Hell."_

_James knelt, and looked into his son's eyes. "This is your destiny, your story Harry. Live it." He smiled at his son, a smile so warm it made Harry's heart content and yet ache, for he might never see it again. "Make an ending that you want, and don't let anything stop you."_

"_I've given everything I can though... I've lost everything I had... I've stood all I can stand... and I've fought all I can fight." Harry whispered softly, head bowed._

"_You haven't lost everything Harry..." Lily said, and an image of Ginny appeared, pale and feeble. "There is still hope for her... and even those you think you have lost to the Dark can still be saved."_

"_Find the Door, Harry." James murmured, gripping his son's shoulder. "In that place lies the key to saving your friends, the universe, everything."_

"_But... I've already failed them once... whose to say I won't fail now..." the Boy-Who-Lived muttered, closing his eyes, a pained expression on his face._

"_Then fight on, for them." Lily whispered, breathing into his ear and holding him close. "Don't make the same mistake twice, and don't let their sacrifice be in vain. Don't let my sacrifice be in vain."_

"_I won't..." Harry was barely aware he was speaking, but his voice had taken on a new quality, one of tempered steel and conviction. "I won't fail them... I will save them. That's a promise."_

_Sirius chuckled, slapping him on the back. "There's that old Potter spirit. I know you've heard it before Harry, but you are the most extraordinary boy I've ever met."_

"_But how... how do I open the Door?" Harry asked softly, looking up again. _

_James glanced at Sirius bemusedly, before looking back to his son. "You already hold the Key... you merely need to find the Door, open it, and find what lies within..."_

"_Kingdom Hearts." Lily finished, and smiled again. _

"_Will I ever see you again?" the Boy-Who-Lived questioned, looking up at them, an almost desperate light in his eyes._

"_Of course you will... but hopefully not for a very long time." His mother said wryly, glancing down at him. _

"_Until then, follow your own path, and make your own story." James wrapped his arm around his wife again, and they both smiled proudly at their son. "Good luck Harry."_

_Sirius stepped away from him, but not without one backward glance. "And be sure to give Voldemort Hell... for all of us."_

_Lily was the last to speak. "Remember Harry... you have the greatest power of all... your heart. And that is more powerful than all the darkness in the universe."_

_Golden light poured over their forms, washing them away..._

And Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley fell from the sky, to land on an endless grassland.

* * *

The Dark Lord frowned, his blood red eyes narrowing. Three beings close to falling into shadow escaped his reach...

Potter was almost a given. The boy's luck bordered on divine intervention.

But these other two...

The half-demon and the witch...

They might prove to be troublesome.

"But how to deal with them..." Lord Voldemort murmured, pacing in shadows.

An idea formed itself slowly, around a fact he was discovering about a few individuals on each world.

With a thought, two forms appeared in the darkness.

Much like a few other peoples whose power allowed them to stay in their original forms, these two were human, albeit heartless ones.

The shadows both bowed to their new master, the crests on their chests twinkling with dark malice. Their eyes were empty, and they themselves were hollow, stuffed creatures who were not truly alive.

For the Dark had stripped them of their hearts, a heart which needs, which beats, which desires.

And without desire, without the heart, one is not truly alive.

"Yes... you two will do nicely." Once more, the Dark Lord had found a problem and its solution...

Now it was only a matter of time before all peoples and all worlds bowed to his might.

* * *

Author's Notes

You have no idea how much I did not want to make that near-death scene. But unfortunately, I needed something, and this one works out the best. The creature Harry fought is the Behemoth you fight in the beginning of Kingdom Hearts.

I am currently working in the new pieces of canon from HBP into the story, and some of it fits, some of it doesn't. Ah well, I will continue on, regardless. I hope you will as well.

For faster updates and news on chapter progress, please join my Yahoo group.


	7. Chapter 6: Awakening

"_Everything must have a beginning."_

_-Proverb _

Chapter 6 Awakening

Everything was so dark... and heavy... and yet it was_ warm_...

Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, jerked awake, nearly throwing his glasses off his face, his arms wrapped around something soft and warm.

It took him a second to realize that the soft and warm object was Ginny Weasley.

He almost dropped her for a moment, till he saw just how peaceful she was. Her pale, slender face, slightly covered by errant locks of blood red hair, was a sight he could not tear his gaze away from.

But there was something wrong... her body seemed too light, her sleep too deep...

The memories flashed in his mind... the creatures who struck at Ginny, taking that bright light from her body...

He shook with fury and shame. Tearing himself from the past, he looked around himself. He lay in a bed, which was a touch fancier than any he had ever had before, even at Hogwarts, with silky sheets and feathery soft, yet firm support. The room was a bedchamber, made of some ivory stone, with a wooden chest, a few pots.

"I see you're awake."

Harry turned towards the door, and a woman met his gaze, not much older than himself. Tall and regal, which was accentuated by her resplendent pink and white dress, with piercing, knowledgeable cobalt eyes, her golden locks allayed in a majestic manner, enhanced by a wiry golden headpiece, obviously a crown. She was strikingly beautiful, with pale, elfin features that seemed delicate, yet her stance and the way she carried herself belied that, portraying a great deal of personal strength.

A symbol on her crown drew his gaze, the image of a three golden triangles arranged to create one larger one...

"Welcome, Keybearer." She smiled slightly, and turned her gaze towards the sleeping redhead in his arms. "And your guest, of course."

Even as he began feeling heat rise to his cheeks, Harry did not let Ginny go.

Her smile seemed to deepen at this. "You would not let her go, even as we brought you inside from the fields."

This furthered the blush, but Harry still did not let go. He wouldn't... he couldn't...

_Not after what happened to Ron, Hermione, and her..._

"Where are we?" the Boy-Who-Lived blurted out, more to ward off thoughts than to actually find out.

"Hyrule Castle." The woman replied, and gave a slight nod, her cobalt eyes twinkling in a way reminiscent of Dumbledore. "I am its Queen, Zelda."

Harry was flabbergasted. A queen? "I... uh... that is..."

Zelda seemed amused by his confusion, but chose not to comment. "You are the Keybearer."

The Boy-Who-Lived blinked, and replied haltingly, "Uh... I'm sorry, but my name's Harry. Harry Potter." Briefly, he wondered if he should have added a "your Majesty" or something along those lines, but the blonde didn't even bat an eye.

The queen nodded again. "Very well then. I am pleased to meet you Harry Potter, Keybearer." Before Harry could ask what in the name of the nine rings of Hell a Keybearer was, she continued.

"When you came here, you were on the verge of death, having sustained numerous injuries, including a few fractured ribs. Our healers had to work fast to save you. You are lucky Kurama found you when he did... Hyrule Field is not a pleasant place at the best of times." Her cobalt eyes darkened, and a small, tight scowl appeared. "And this is quite possibly one of the worst."

Completely lost, Harry simply nodded. "Um... thank you for helping us out," he said hesitantly.

"It was no trouble. You are, after all, the Keybearer." Zelda replied simply.

Gazing at her curiously, the Boy-Who-Lived queried, "Keybearer?"

Zelda cocked her head to the side and glanced at him quizzically, before she smiled slightly. "I see that we will have to explain that as well then. Come with me."

Harry glanced at Ginny, reluctant to leave her side for anything.

Noticing this, the queen added, "Do not worry yourself. You are both safe here."

Accepting this, Harry followed Zelda out of the chamber, casting one last, lingering glance at the still comatose Weasley.

* * *

The Boy-Who-Lived was taken to a massive stone room, where a large, wooden round table dominated the room, with a vast amount of chairs, mostly empty. Situated around the table was a small gathering of people, each of whom was engaged in various conversations.

Harry was shocked... they all looked so young, nothing like the wizened, elderly people he expected to find.

Queen Zelda glanced at him, smiling. "Do not be fooled by any person in this room, Harry Potter. Every one of them, including myself, is far more than they appear."

Before the enigmatic statement could be analyzed, she coughed slightly, and the conversation ceased. "The Keybearer is awake." She declared, motioning to the now quite shy Harry Potter, who looked downwards as he felt every gaze in the room rivet and fixate themselves onto him.

After a moment, he glanced upwards, and waved shyly. "Uh... hi?"

The gazes didn't waver, though some chuckled at his discomfort.

Noticing this, Zelda motioned to the various members of the group. "I'll introduce you, Harry Potter. This is Kurama, who brought you in from the fields." He followed her gaze to a scarlet haired boy situated nearest to the door, who scrutinized him with impassive, but not cold green eyes, much like his own. He wore a pinkish jumpsuit, which seemed Oriental in style; his entire appearance was unassuming, but his eyes were a far different story, full of intelligence, like a fox.

Swallowing, Harry gave the boy a slight nod, which was returned with a warm smile. "Hello, Harry Potter." Kurama greeted politely, his viridian eyes seeming to pierce into the teen's mind.

"H-hi." Harry stammered slightly, still completely confused about the situation.

"Kurama is a fox demon, Harry." The Queen added, bringing herself back into the conversation. "A very ancient and powerful one."

The statement ground most of the Boy-Who-Lived's thoughts to a halt. A demon? But he looked so normal...

"And this is Washu, Harry." Zelda continued without pause, motioning to a pink haired girl of considerable height deficiency. "She is our resident genius, along with Ed. Don't be fooled by her face, she's quite older than she looks."

"I told you to call me Little Washu!" The girl grumbled, but a bright smile belied the tone. She was dressed in a plain shirt and pants, and like Kurama, her own eyes were bright green, but they surpassed the redhead and even Dumbledore in knowledge and wisdom, yet they retained their somewhat child-like exuberance. In all, she came off as a slightly more eccentric Tonks.

Washu smiled at Harry, gazing at him with a strange curiosity. "So you're the Keybearer..." She mused, an appraising tone in her voice. "Pleased to meet ya." She grinned now, and stuck her hand out.

Harry shook it, still quite lost in what was going on. In a way, he felt like he was just entering the magical world again, being introduced to all sorts of people who knew his name but who had never met him before.

Zelda took him by the shoulder and led him away, towards a young woman, possibly Harry's age or even younger. Her hair was bright pink and her eyes green, much like Washu's, leading him to wonder if everyone here had some sort of relation to each other. She wore leathery armor, which fitted well on her slender body, and at her side was the hilt of a rapier.

"This is Ritz, an expert warrior with the rapier... and no, she's not related to Washu." The Queen remarked wryly, smiling.

Ritz gazed at him coolly, and nodded. Her eyes seemed to be gauging him, weighing him up for a fight.

Harry decided instantly that this was not the sort of girl you messed around with, and who probably had a temper to match Ron's.

A spike of pain flared, which Harry ignored.

The last member of the group was decidedly the oddest. Dressed in a too small white shirt and skin tight black shorts, a slightly pink hairdo, and with cognac eyes that danced with a mix of intelligence and insanity, this was certainly the eccentric.

"This is Ed." Zelda introduced, and then whispered in his ear, "She's a bit odd sometimes, but she's every bit as smart as Washu."

"Ed will introduce Ed. Ed is Edward Wong Hau Pepleu Tivursky the Fourth!" Ed shouted loudly, leaping up from her chair and landing an inch from his face. Her cognac eyes bored into his as she continued smiling. " "Hallo Harry-person! Pleased to meetcha!"

"Uh... Hi."Harry said weakly. Every other person in the room either chuckled or rolled their eyes, obviously used to Ed's antics. Behind him, Zelda seemed barely able to control a most undignified giggle.

The girl (or perhaps boy... he couldn't tell) looked at him carefully, before her face broke into a large, ear wide grin. "Do you like my name? Ed made it up herself!"

As Harry opened his mouth to ask how exactly she was the fourth if she made up her own name, Ed beamed at him, then back flipped away, and then... slithered back into her chair, almost bonelessly.

The Boy-Who-Lived blinked and turned his gaze to the shrugging Queen, who mouthed, 'See?'

"There are others who are currently out patrolling... but these here insisted on meeting the Keybearer first." Zelda explained, "It is difficult, organizing peoples from different worlds, and-"

"Wait. What?" Harry exclaimed, blinking in surprise, his foot slipping back a step.

"He doesn't know." Kurama said quietly, looking at the Boy-Who-Lived carefully.

"Well that's just great... how's this guy going to help us if he doesn't know what the heck he's doing!" Ritz exclaimed sarcastically, glaring at Harry, who gazed down at the floor.

Zelda placed her hand on Harry's shoulder, and he turned his gaze to her. She smiled reassuringly. "Perhaps you should show them the Keyblade, and then we can start from there."

"Key-" Harry paused, and remembered. That strange weapon he'd been given...

"I don't know where it is." The Boy-Who-Lived said quietly.

Ritz growled irritably, and huffed. Zelda glanced at her warningly, and said gently, "Just call it from your heart, Harry. The Keyblade is bonded to its wielder."

Expectant gazes bore down on him.

Swallowing, Harry nodded. "A-alright..." He closed his eyes, trying to imagine the warm, familiar feeling of the Keyblade in his hands, the light, easy weight and balance...

He opened his eyes. There it was, that strange weapon again, held in his hand as if it had always been there.

"Interesting..." Washu murmured, staring at the Keyblade.

"Oh... shiny, shiny," Ed laughed happily, waving her arms in the air.

Kurama stood up, and walked over to the queen and Harry. "May I see it, Harry?" He asked softly, holding out his hand.

Harry hesitated for a moment, before handing it over. These people helped keep him and Ginny safe... they deserved at least a little trust.

The redhead grasped the guarded hilt warily, his emerald eyes running up and down its shape, from the teeth of the key end to the length of the 'blade', to the yellow guard for the hilt, to the small keychain at the end.

His eyes widened as suddenly, the Keyblade dissipated into a sparks of light, and flew back towards Harry, who raised his hand to defend himself. The luminous sparks struck his hand, and the Keyblade reappeared.

Eyes widened in surprise, and Washu sucked in a breath. Ed laughed and clapped in amusement, "Do it again! Do it again!"

"It would appear that the Keyblade can only be held by its chosen." Kurama said, a tone of amusement in his voice. "A valuable asset, to be sure."

"Do... you know about the Keyblade?" Harry asked quietly, gazing at Kurama, then Zelda curiously. "Can you tell me about the Door?"

The Queen nodded, but her cobalt eyes seemed to dim. "There is precious little on the legend of the Keybearer. You had best sit down, Harry." She added, motioning towards one of the many empty chairs.

Without taking his gaze away from Zelda, the Boy-Who-Lived sat down, waiting. After a moment, she continued.

"In the Arcane Codex, it states that the Keybearer will come at a time of terrible Darkness, wielding a Key. His Key is a weapon of light, a creation of absolute Good. With his Key, he will open the Door to the 'Heart of All Worlds'. There, he will bring Salvation to us all." Zelda recited, before glancing to Kurama. "However, Kurama's world has its own tale of the Keybearer... which clashes directly with ours."

From his position against the wall, the fox demon straightened, and his voice was quiet. "In Demon World, there is a tale about a person who will wield a Key, and who will appear in the middle of a threat against all Creation. His Key is a weapon of Darkness, a terrible abomination that brings chaos and destruction in its wake. He will open the Door to the Heart of All Worlds, just like Zelda has stated... but in our tale, it ends with one very disturbing line."

Kurama paused, and everyone in the room seemed to tense up. Somehow, Harry had the feeling it wouldn't be good.

"And he will bring Destruction to all of Creation." The demon quoted softly, and closed his eyes.

The Keybearer couldn't blink, couldn't speak. Everything felt so intense, so overwhelming.

In the middle of his shock, Queen Zelda turned, and looked at him gravely.

"So what are you, Harry Potter? Savior, Conqueror, Hero, Villain?"

* * *

There was a song playing... somewhere. An invisible, untraceable chorus was playing the most haunting... yet somehow familiar tune he had ever heard.

He had never really listened to any music, nor cared to... but this song seemed to be calling him.

Its melody was deep and endless, relentlessly soft and slow, but unending. The tone was ageless, yet quietly cruel, stirring feelings of love, loss, pain, friendship, happiness... everything.

A song of Time.

And somehow... his song.

Soft steps clicked on stone, and he tried to sniff out the scent... but something felt wrong with him... his body ached and screamed, unable to clear his head.

Silently, he passed out.

Without a word, a figure picked him up, wondering how a half demon ended up on the floor of the Temple of Time.

* * *

Harry found himself wandering the palace grounds, numb to the absolutely stunning landscape around him. There were many armored guards, all of whom seemed to look at him with a mixture of distrust and curiosity.

But he didn't notice at all. In fact, he barely noted that he had been changed into a deep brown tunic and pants, only barely aware of his surroundings. The Keyblade had returned within him, and now he could truly feel its warmth in his chest... thought it contrasted with the cold he felt everywhere else.

Eventually, the Boy-Who-Lived found a quiet garden area, secluded from the rest of the world. The peace and tranquility of the place seemed to soothe his tattered nerves, bring him some relief.

It reminded him of the days before Hogwarts, before magic, before Destiny and Prophecy...

Before Lord Voldemort.

When he would sit alone, silent, not a care in the world, no responsibilities, no burdens, just living.

Existing.

He missed that. Somehow, despite the fact that he had hated his time before Hogwarts once... now, now it seemed a precious memory, a life that he would never again experience. A normal life that was now beyond his reach.

And a small part of him was deeply saddened by it.

So it was in this solitary place that the Queen found the Keybearer, his eyes closed, sitting in the flowers like the boy he really was.

"I see you found my private gardens, Harry." Zelda said, amused.

Harry's eyes snapped open and he jerked from his position in the grass, standing up and flushing. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't know-"

But she merely smiled. "It's quite alright... I myself find that it is often good to take time for yourself, away from the pressures of life." After a moment, she paused, and sighed. "I'm sorry for placing this information on your shoulders, Harry. But it is imperative you understand that you represent both victory and annihilation for all of us."

"I'd never..." Harry began, but Zelda raised her hand to silence him.

"I know, Harry. I've had the honor of meeting a man just like yourself once, someone who only wanted to do the right thing, to help... to save." Her blue eyes clouded with memory. "And he too, felt close to breaking many times. But you must remain strong, Harry Potter. You must not allow yourself to give in.

"For if you do... we're all dead." Zelda said frankly, gravely.

Before anything else could be said, a tall, tanned woman dressed in a blue body suit appeared in the shadows. Her crimson eyes briefly flickered to the Boy-Who-Lived, before returning to the Queen.

"My Lady, there is an urgent matter that needs your attention." She said calmly, but there was a ruffled tone in her voice.

Zelda nodded. "Thank you Impa." She turned back towards Harry, and smiled apologetically. "I am sorry, Harry. It appears our talk will have to be cut short. Do remember what I have told you."

And with that, she left, leaving the Keybearer alone to his thoughts.

* * *

"So what is it, Impa, that is so urgent that you would lose your omnipresent calm?" Zelda asked dryly, but with a hint of worry as she glanced at her protector.

The Sage of Shadow shook her head. "It would be better to show you." Quickly, she led her queen towards a room where Kurama stood guard.

Impa glanced at the redhead, and the two locked gazes for a moment.

The two seemed to have a mutual understanding, and without a word, the fox demon stepped aside.

Zelda shot him a curious glance, but the redhead's eyes betrayed nothing. Sighing, the royal entered the room.

On the bed was a young man, injured but breathing, his red clothing unmistakably foreign. A sword lay off to the side, sheathed in a black case. Curiously, his hair was long and silver, and two dog ears popped just above his head...

"I couldn't touch his sword." Kurama said, showing his burnt palms. "There seems to be a barrier against demons."

"Isn't he a demon?" Impa asked bluntly.

The redhead shook his head. "No... he doesn't have a full demon scent, or that distinctive power. No... he's a half demon. Or half human, whichever you prefer." The tone in his voice suggested that such a thing was extremely rare.

"Would either of you care to tell me what's going on?" Zelda asked impatiently, annoyed at not being told anything.

"I found this_ half demon _within the Temple of Time," Impa explained to the Queen's surprise, knowing that no other offworlder had ever appeared in there, "The entire temple was resonating with his presence... in a way that I've only heard happened to just one other person. It's as though he's connected to it... which is impossible."

The news was definitely urgent, and Zelda pursed her lips, trying to figure out a plan of action. "Watch over him. Tell me when he wakes up... until then, tend to his wounds."

Both Kurama and Impa nodded, and the Queen left the room, pondering over the new developments.

* * *

There was so much darkness everywhere... nothing but emptiness... and yet, there was another.

Something was calling her... a familiar feeling... something raw, relentless, powerful, passionate... and _warm_.

A kindred power.

_Sleep, avatar. Sleep._ A voice whispered softly, gently. The voice of the Power.

"What the... a Hyrulian, this deep in the Temple!" a voice shouted, obviously shocked.

"How did she-" A second voice murmured, but was cut off by the first.

"She's injured! Get Big Brother! Hurry!"

Footsteps stampeded around her, but Robin Sena didn't notice a thing, cradled in the warmth of the Fire Temple, a soft smile on her face.

* * *

When Harry returned to the meeting chamber, he found only Ritz, Zelda, and Washu waiting for him. The three women seemed to be in deep discussion, which immediately halted when he came in the room.

The Queen was the first to turn, and seemed to look at him piercingly for a moment, before smiling, seeing that he was fine. "Well, Harry, I see that a walk around the gardens has done you well. Now that you're refreshed, there are a few points we need to discuss." She gestured towards a chair, which the Boy-Who-Lived took, never taking his eyes off the females.

Ritz refused a chair, preferring to lean against the wall, watching him. Washu, on the other hand, took a seat easily, smiling but studying him.

"I trust you're familiar with the enemy that's been attacking us as of late." Zelda began, and Harry remembered the shadowy creatures, "But we're wondering... have you ever heard of a pale, skeletal man with crimson eyes?"

Swallowing, Harry nodded, his face tightening and his fist clenching. "Yeah." He said tightly, "I know him." A bitter chuckle escaped his lips.

The three women shared a glance, and the Queen continued, "Can you tell us anything about him, Harry?"

Oh, yes he could, the Boy-Who-Lived thought bitterly, he could tell them all about the Dark Lord. About his murders, his crimes, his evil...

"His name is Lord Voldemort... he's my enemy, and the man who murdered my parents." Harry whispered softly, closing his eyes. Washu nodded sympathetically, and Ritz and Zelda's eyes softened, "He's evil... and powerful... and I'm the only one who can kill him."

The Queen clicked her teeth thoughtfully. "The way you say this... its as if it was destined." She said, her gaze seeming to cut deeper than Legilimency.

Swallowing, the Keybearer nodded. "It is. Either he kills me, or I kill him." After a moment of terse silence, he tried to change the subject. "Do you know anything about the creatures he's ordering? Or that strange symbol on his chest?"

Zelda nodded, and glanced over to Washu.

"We're calling them the Heartless, since it seems they are creatures who exist without a heart, to steal hearts." That was good, the Boy-Who-Lived thought. His enemy had a name, which made it less alien. "Apparently, there have been newer types forming out of their victims, and they wear the crest of the Heartless, that symbol you saw. " the pink haired woman explained, and a horrible thought occurred to Harry.

"Ginny! The girl I was with... she got attacked!" he blurted out, panicked.

Washu shook her head, her long, vibrant hair whipping about. "Your friend is a unique case, Harry. She's not transforming, but her heart is no longer there." At Harry's worried look, she smiled reassuringly. "Ginny's not going to die, Harry. There's even a good chance she'll wake up... but without the heart, she might not be the person you remember."

But Harry barely heard her, sagging into his seat, relieved. After a moment, he looked up again. "So... what's been happening?" he asked softly, dreading the answer.

Zelda exchanged a glance with Washu, and leaned forward. "A short while ago, the Heartless began appearing on different worlds, attacking the people and stealing their hearts, before completely plunging that world into Darkness. I was able to use my power to keep my realm from suffering the same fate.

"Refugees from the fallen worlds have been pouring into this world, and we've even tried sending a ship into the Void, in an attempt to rescue more survivors. You and Ginny are lucky... from your looks, you seemed to have been in the chaos between worlds for a long while."

Somehow, Harry knew that if he had been in there longer, he would have been lost... he almost had been lost anyway.

But now there was something else on his mind... helping rescue survivors, stopping anyone else from suffering Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore's fates...

"I want to go help look for survivors." The Boy-Who-Lived stated, looking up, his eyes shining with determination.

Zelda smiled. "Somehow, I thought you'd say that. We've been attempting to repair a ship to take into the Void, but so far, its repairs have been going slow. Hyrule is not exactly designed to cater to such technology." Harry's face fell, but she continued, "But as soon as we do, I promise that I will send you and a team of other warriors to help protect other worlds."

The Keybearer blinked, uncomprehending. "What do you mean? How can I protect the worlds?"

"In a few sources, it states that the Keyblade also has the ability to lock the heart of individual worlds, protecting them from destruction by the Heartless." The Queen responded.

Harry's heart lifted. He could save people... "How long until the ship is repaired?" he asked hurriedly.

Zelda sighed, leaning into her chair. "As I stated before, Hyrule has never had a ship like this before, and therefore, it will take time to repair, as it was badly damaged in the void. From Washu's estimates, at least two months before its operational."

Two months! He couldn't wait that long...

As if she knew (and she probably did) what he was thinking, the Queen said gently, "Harry, we also need the time to prepare you for this journey. Ritz," she said, motioning towards the taciturn girl, "Will be one of your instructors. You will need to be exceptionally skilled with the Keyblade to survive the coming days."

Harry's mouth went dry, and he wondered exactly how brutal training under the pink haired girl would be.

"But this is all a lot to take in... we will talk more tomorrow. Eat, and then we shall retire to our rooms." And with that, Zelda motioned towards the door, where four cooks brought in steaming hot meals.

His stomach rumbled, and the Boy-Who-Lived flushed slightly as the women laughed.

* * *

Cobalt eyes tracked the progress of the Keybearer from a balcony, watching with intense interest, far beyond average curiosity.

So engrossed in the progress of this would-be-savior was Queen Zelda that she almost failed to sense the demon aura behind her.

"Hello Kurama." She said, her eyes still riveted to the make-shift training of the Keybearer.

The redhead didn't react to the fact that Zelda hadn't even looked at him. His emerald eyes too, were watching the Keybearer with rapt fascination.

"He's quick... not too strong, but strength isn't everything. There's real talent for a blade in him, even if he didn't have the Keyblade." The Queen mused, watching as the Keyblade sent sparks up into the air as it struck the wall, "And he seems to shine with some inner light... something we can only begin to understand."

"True. Though he seems plagued by guilt and doubt... that may be a problem." Kurama critqued, watching the swing of the Keyblade as it was blocked by Ritz's rapier. "If he begins to lose hope for himself, he may fall. His heart is both a strength and weakness... his conscience may wear on his skill."

"It can also sharpen a warrior's skill and make his resolve stronger." Zelda countered, watching as Ritz nearly took Harry's head off.

"We will have to see then." The fox demon murmured, and the two fell silent for a moment.

"Do you think he can save the worlds?" the demon asked curiously. From what he had seen, the Queen was exceptionally perceptive.

For the first time since Kurama had stepped onto the balcony, Queen Zelda turned back to him, her eyes shining with sadness. "I've seen his kind before... stupidly courageous, the lot of them. They always pull through."

"You still hold hope." The demon said, unsurprised.

Nodding, the blonde whispered, "Hope is what keeps us alive... hope might be the only thing that will see us through this war."

Kurama's eyes flickered towards a shadowy blur rapidly moving towards Harry. With an amused smile, he said, "It appears my colleague wishes to have a chat with the Keybearer."

* * *

Harry Potter slumped against the wall, breathing heavily, letting sweat soak his shirt. Ritz had been a merciless instructor who preferred 'demonstrations' to simple lectures. Abruptly, a nagging, intruding feeling began to emerge at the back of his mind.

He sucked in a breath as he realized that it was the tell-tale feel of Legilimency. Forcing up his Occulemens defenses, which he had practiced at the Dursley's, he felt the intruder stop in surprise, and withdraw.

"Well. You have _some _skill, it seems, boy." A dry, arrogant voice noted. It reminded him of Severus Snape, his Potions Professor.

The Keyblade flashed into his hand, and he spun around, trying to find the voice. "Who's there!" he shouted angrily.

"Not too perceptive, though." Said the voice, right in front of him.

A strangled yelp escaped Harry's lips as he leapt backwards, Keyblade raised.

The figure in front of him was short, probably barely at or topping five feet. His shock of blue-silver hair made him a bit taller, the spikes increasing his height by a few inches. Crimson eyes gauged him coldly, burning with an inner fire. The man (he was far too dangerous looking to be a boy) was dressed in a black cloak that completely covered his body, reaching down to his black pants. His diminutive height, however, was countered by the sword at his back.

"Now, now, Hiei, don't scare him like that." Kurama's voice chided, as the redhead leapt down from a balcony. Turning towards the Boy-Who-Lived, he smiled apologetically. "My apologies... Hiei can be... unfriendly."

_That_ was an understatement, Harry thought. The man practically radiated danger.

"Now, a more formal introduction. This is my friend," (somehow, Harry thought friend was probably a stretch), "Hiei, a demon like myself. Hiei, this is Harry Potter, the Keybearer."

Hiei didn't even blink or speak, instead scoffing at Kurama, and turning his back on Harry. "The boy is already exhausted by that girl... and his mental defenses are mediocre at best. We're going to need a lot of work." The demon said to Kurama, before disappearing.

As Harry gasped, Kurama looked back at him apologetically. "As I said before, he's a tad... blunt."

Instead of answering, the Boy-Who-Lived wondered just how many odd people made it to this castle, and realized that it was going to be an interesting two months, to say the least.

* * *

In the deep silence of the midnight hour, a figure appeared outside of Harry's bedroom. Swathed in black clothing that seemed like shadow, Lord Voldemort's blood red eyes twinkled darkly as he reached for the doorknob.

"Leave this place."

The Dark Lord turned, a challenging smirk on his bone white face. "Ah yes, the valiant queen. You know you cannot stop me, girl." He hissed, unmoving save for the slight advance of his face.

Queen Zelda merely glared back, defiance in her cobalt eyes. "This is my realm, and I say you shall not harm them. They are under my protection." She replied calmly, but her tone was like tempered steel.

Lord Voldemort smirked wider, and the shadows arose around them. "Your power pales against the full might of the Dark. You are nothing, girl. Just a frightened girl trying to act brave until her knight arrives."

Zelda didn't flinch or shrink from the dark, raising her arm in a motion to shield herself, with her clenched fist blocking her view. Her bare hand glowed with that same symbol which was inlaid on her crown; a triangle, formed out of three smaller ones. One of the small triangles, the topmost, glowed intensely.

"I am not afraid of you, or the Dark. Go back to the abyss where you were spawned, demon." The Queen hissed, and the luminous triangle shone on.

"You think to banish me!" the Lord of the Dark whispered incredulously, but he shrunk back from the light nonetheless.

"I am the keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom, Guardian of this land and this throne, Queen of Destiny. My power is divine, the power of Naryu, Goddess of Wisdom. Now, begone!" Zelda snarled, and the glow became blinding.

"This isn't over, girl." Lord Voldemort whispered dangerously. "The Darkness can never be banished, never be beaten back forever."

And with that, he was gone, a midnight shadow banished in the dawn.

Zelda sagged against the wall, leaning heavily against it. Sweat poured down her brow, and her hand went limp to her side.

"That was too close." The Queen breathed softly, wiping her forehead off with the back of her hand. "Too close indeed..."

* * *

Author's Notes

This was by far the longest chapter I've written so far... and it seems that the following chapters will only increase in length. The story is finally picking up, and the cast coming together. As you can see, Zelda will have a significant role in this story, and I'm enjoying writing her character.

Don't be discouraged if most of the characters are unfamiliar... most are minor roles, and the larger ones you'll come to know soon enough. Harry's begun his training, and you'll see more of it next chapter, plus a meeting between Robin, Inuyasha, and Harry.

Lastly, please join my Yahoo group. Updates come in faster there, and eventually we might even get around to discussing this story! So please, please join. Link in profile.


	8. Chapter 7: Triumvirate

"_There are no strangers here; Only friends you have yet to meet."_

_-William Butler Yeats _

Chapter 7 Triumvirate

Harry Potter felt the sweat roll down his face, gripping the Keyblade tightly, nervously. He couldn't tell where his opponent was... never could-

A sudden crackle of air and dirt caused him to spin around-

Far too late.

THWACK!

The force of the weapon smashed into his chest, sending the Boy-Who-Lived careening backwards, reeling from the blow. Without mercy, his opponent disappeared again, and brought the impromptu weapon down on his skull.

Stars burst across his darkening vision, and his teeth clacked together painfully.

Harry groaned, rubbing his head where his sparring partner had bashed it in. "Merlin's beard Hiei, you didn't have to hit so hard." He grumbled.

"Well, if you'd like me to use a sword next time, I'd be happy to do so." The demon replied, smirking down on him, waving the hated stick.

It had barely been two days since he began his training, and already, he was waking up in the morning, bruised and battered. Even the potions that the castle supplied couldn't keep all the pain away.

Of course, it wasn't all swordplay. There was lessons on how to pilot the ship from Washu, tactics and strategy with Kurama, plus magic lessons with Ritz.

After another moment, Harry looked back up, and glanced at Hiei. The demon had taken over part of the swordplay lessons, and was even more ruthless than Ritz had been. His gaze was drawn towards the bandages that Hiei always wore over his right arm. Something about it just screamed power... a dark kind.

When he had inquired about it, the demon had responded with a particularly ruthless training session.

"Get up." Hiei said, his tone irrefutable.

With a sigh, Harry staggered to his feet.

* * *

"Hello Harry." The Boy-Who-Lived looked up from his lunch, blinking slowly at Kurama. 

"Oh, hey Kurama. What's up?" he asked, knowing that lessons weren't till later.

Smiling, the fox demon reached into his pocket, retrieving a small, completely opaque orb. At Harry's perplexed look, Kurama explained. "We found this a few days ago. It's creating massive energy readings, but so far, no one's been able to find out how to unlock it."

"And you think I can? Why?" Harry questioned, pausing to drink slowly out of his goblet.

"Because you are the Keybearer. And this orb is not just powerful, but there is also a human soul, or heart, if you will, within it. And you can unlock that heart and use its power to aid you." As he finished, Kurama set down the orb, continuing to smile gently. "Pick it up, Harry."

Hesitantly, the Keybearer grasped the gem with slow, careful fingers, and then gasped as he felt a surge of power roar within him, and...

_A Heartbeat._

"There is someone in there... someone very kind and powerful." His eyes clouded, and he said quietly, "It's called the Angel of Destruction."

Kurama said nothing and showed no surprise, merely evaluating the strange boy before him.

"I see." After a moment, he continued, "Harry, how long have you had the Keyblade?"

Blinking, the Boy-Who-Lived replied, "Only an hour or so before I fell into the void..."

Now it was the fox demon's turn to look surprise. "Really? It could seem to most that you've been using it for much, much longer, with the way the abilities of the Keybearer come to you."

"I really don't know. My... my teacher once told me that this power dwelled in my heart, in my love... but I never understood what he meant." Harry admitted, eyes and tone downcast.

"You will, in time, I believe." Kurama smiled gently. "Now, I believe you have a lesson with Miss Ritz next."

Harry nearly leapt out of his seat, knowing that the pink haired girl would be furious if he was late.

* * *

Different... everything was different. 

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open, panic filling his golden eyes. "KAGOME!"

His claws tore into the unfamiliar material, his nose filled with strange scents, his ears ringing with thousands of sounds.

With his eyes fogged over, he could not see, and leapt away, hairs bristling, a low growl in his throat, a flash of red in his eyes.

And then-

"Calm yourself." The voice was cool and hard, and smelled of a kitsune, a fox demon.

The half demon blinked. "Shippo?" he asked hesitantly.

"I am not Shippo." The voice responded, only a small trace of amusement in its voice.

Blinking again, the image of a red haired young man came into focus. "Who are you?" Inuyasha demanded, hand reaching for Tetsusaiga and finding it missing. "And where's my sword!"

"Your sword is over there." The fox demon responded. "And my name is Kurama."

Glancing back hesitantly, Inuyasha was relieved to find his sword, and immediately grasped it, pulling the blade free-

Only to find Tetsusaiga remaining in its katana form. "What the... What have you done to my sword!" he demanded angrily, waving the blade about.

"We have done nothing." Kurama replied, a trace of exasperated anger in his tone. "Now, I'll ask you again to calm yourself."

"The hell I-"

"Please, both of you. Calm down." A cool, serene voice interrupted.

Inuyasha and Kurama froze, and watched as a woman almost glided into the room, her pink dress swishing about her body, in a dignity that outrivaled even Kikyo's ceremonial demeanor. She smiled at him apologetically. "I am sorry if you have been startled by your new surroundings. My name is Zelda, and I am the ruler of this place."

"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asked roughly, as if he hadn't heard. "What did you do with her and to my sword!"

"You came to us in this condition. You were alone." Zelda said calmly, unaffected.

Inuyasha froze, and remembered.

His eyes closed and his fist clenched over Tetsusaiga, which felt heavier than it had ever been.

That's right. He'd failed her.

As though the queen could see his sorrow, she spoke again.

"I'm so sorry."

* * *

"Concentrate Harry!" Ritz snapped, eyes flashing and hair whipping around her. 

Sweat rolled down his closed eyes, and the Boy-Who-Lived resisted the urge to blink. To do so would break the energy he had gathered.

Currently, he was holding the Keyblade in a basic sword position, in front of his pelvis, pointing diagonally away from his body. The currents of magic were flowing around him, a sense he had learned so quickly he wondered how he could have missed it.

"Feel it flowing through you, and fill it with passion. Unleash the element!" Ritz shouted.

His eyes clenched tighter, and Harry forced his will into the magic, letting it flow. It was like trying to push water.

"Do it now!"

Snapping his eyes open, Harry thrust the Keyblade into the air, directly above himself. "FIRE!"

A ball of flame, no bigger than his head hurled itself from the Keyblade, soaring into the air, finally dissipating far overhead in a shower of sparks.

With a loud sigh of exhaustion, he plopped down into the soft grass, sweat rolling off of him in waves. "Whew... I did it." Harry muttered, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He felt his body aching, and didn't think he could move a finger anymore.

Of course, his instructor did not feel the same way.

"Do it again."

Groaning, Harry stood once more.

* * *

Harry stumbled towards his room, completely numb with exhaustion as he blindly staggered toward through the corridor. 

So great was his exhaustion that he only barely had time to register a blur of red before someone knocked into him.

Staggering backwards, the Boy-Who-Lived barely managed to hold himself upright, and jerked his head toward the person who rammed into him.

Irritated emerald eyes met clouded gold.

The pain in those eyes reminded him of those had lost as well. After a moment, Harry's eyes flickered towards the other's ears.

They were white furred dog ears.

He stared for a moment, so long that the other boy snapped irritably, "What are you looking at?"

Forgetting his indignation at the rude remark, Harry blinked, and asked, "Who are you?" he was dressed in a blood red- kimono, if Harry remembered correctly, and his pants were of the same color, and puffed out quite a bit, making him seem bigger than he was. A red sash was tied around the other boy's waist, holding in place a katana, and his brilliant silver hair came down to past his waist.

Inuyasha stared for a moment, unable to believe the boy had simply stared and then dismissed his obviously strange appearance. "Inuyasha." He responded, still slightly bewildered. His own eyes stared at the boys lightning shaped scar with a hint of wonder, before returning to meet the intense green.

"My name's Harry. Harry Potter." The Boy-Who-Lived stared at him again. "Are you lost?" he questioned. "Or are you new here?"

"Both." The half demon replied gruffly, in a tone that Harry hadn't heard spoken to him since he came here. It was a tone of a complete stranger who knew nothing about you.

Harry's exhaustion was forgotten, and a strange tingling like Destiny was in his gut. "If you want, I could show you around..."

Inuyasha hesitated, aware that the boy's presence made him feel remarkably comfortable, as though he had a hidden warmth.

"Whatever." The half demon said, only half meaning it.

* * *

"Quite a strange pair." Kurama murmured, his eyes watching the half demon and the Keybearer curiously. "I would never have thought those two could get along." 

"I think it's quite good for him," Queen Zelda replied, her eyes soft and tone almost motherly. "He needs a friend. And we can't fulfill the role of friend and teacher at the same time."

"I suppose." The fox demon said doubtfully. He was less inclined to like the half-demon than the queen. "Will you let him take the half demon to other worlds? He seems unstable... and his weapon is powerless."

The Queen of Destiny merely smiled knowingly. "Power calls to power, Kurama. There's something in that boy, Inuyasha, that speaks of great power, and greater compassion. He will prove his worth."

He was quiet for a moment. "I will trust your judgement." Kurama said finally.

* * *

Warmth... she was encased in a warmth that felt like the embrace of Heaven itself. 

"I thinks she's coming to, Big Brother."

"Oh good."

The sound of unfamiliar voices caused her eyes to snap open in a flash, in a way that only years of dogmatic training could accomplish. Within a flash, she stood straight up, letting the sheets fall away from her.

"Easy... we're friends, we're not going to hurt you." A deep voice, yet gentle spoke assuredly, and strong hands pushed her back down.

Something about it spoke of kinship, not in the tone or sound, but in an underlying quality.

"Where... where am I?" Robin asked slowly, trying to take in her surroundings. Rock, rock, rock was all she could see.

"Within Goron City, in the heart of Death Mountain. To have come so deep into the Temple of Fire and not known, you must be an offworlder." The first voice spoke knowingly. Her eyes came to rest upon a large, not just physically but with an aura of bigness, creature with tanned earthy skin that looked hard and coarse, and two small black eyes.

"I am Darunia, but you can call me Big Brother. Everyone does." He said cheerily.

"Thank you for helping me." The witch said gratefully, bowing her head respectfully. "I am in your debt."

Darunia laughed, a deep, warm sound. "No need to sound so formal," he assuaged, "And I am happy to help anyone, especially one who has so much connection to my temple."

The way he talked about the temple, it wasn't possessiveness- it was divine mandate.

"What is this temple?" Robin questioned curiously.

"Its an ancient thing, the place in which we pay homage to Fire, from which the race of Gorons were birthed at the chaos of beginnings." Darunia recited sagely. "It is one of the focal points of energy in Hyrule and a keystone of the fabric of this world."

"Hy... Hyrule?" she stuttered, confused.

At her look, he chuckled, his voice rebounding about the chamber. "It is the name of our world. And you, I take it, are not of it."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Inuyasha drawled, raising a black eyebrow, which clashed oddly with his silver hair. "There's this bastard called Voldemort, a human, running around destroying the worlds. And he commands those... Heartless. And you, another human, are the Keybearer, some sort of hero." 

"You know, when you say it like that, it sounds insane." Harry replied slowly, sarcastically. "But yes, that's about it."

Inuyasha's fist clenched, and he shook with anger. So this Voldemort took Kagome away... he looked down at his claws.

So helpless. A failure.

No.

No.

He would find her.

And he would make whoever took her _pay_.

"Where is he!" Inuyasha demanded, grabbing Harry's shirt roughly.

"I don't know." The Keybearer replied irritably. Even his scar hadn't been acting up lately, aside from a tiny, ever present heat in his forehead. "Now would you let go?"

The half demon paused, as if unwilling, before he let go. "I'm coming with you." He said briskly. "I..." he hesitated, and then his voice strengthened, "I'm looking for someone."

Harry, to his credit, did not push further, instead happy that he would have a friend to aid him. "Of course."

* * *

"You're beginning to veer twenty degrees to the right, Harry." A mechanical voice chimed reproachfully. 

Gritting his teeth, Harry responded thickly, "Thank you Gilliam." It had been two weeks since he'd arrived here, and still that voice bugged him to no end.

"My pleasure, Harry." The Artificial Intelligence responded. Gilliam, the system for the ship Harry would be piloting, _Outlaw Star_, was incredibly intelligent.

Problem was, they probably should have made its personality a bit more... alive.

Currently, the Boy-Who-Lived was immersed in a virtual training session, not actually piloting the ship. The navigation system apparently depended on a delicate young woman who had been found unconscious inside the ship when it arrived, so this was the most troubling problem Washu and Ed had encountered in modifying the ship.

A small window popped up on the display screen, and Harry, trying to remember the tutorial, watched it on his peripheral vision.

On it was a pink bush of hair. "Heya Harry," Washu greeted cheerfully. "Enjoying the system?" her voice was just the tiniest bit sly and smug.

Harry did not dignify that with a response.

As if he had spoken, she continued, "Well, I'm just letting you know that tomorrow, Kurama and Hiei are going to take you to Goron City. You can bring that boy, Inuyasha if you want." The eccentric genius said, smiling through nearly closed eyes.

_That_ caused Harry a small bit of surprise. "Why?" he asked, and his eyes flickered to the display screen.

"Because Hiei wants to put you through a real life combat situation in Hyrule field, and because the queen doesn't trust you alone with Hiei." Washu replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "And the Gorons want to meet you." She added, as an afterthought.

Harry nodded, and felt a bit better, feeling that he was _doing_ something.

Even if it was going into battle.

"Over and out," the genius laughed, and the connection terminated.

There was silence for a moment.

"Ten degrees."

"_Thank you, Gilliam!"

* * *

_

The next morning was bright and sunny, and Harry felt better than he had in a while, stepping out of the castle gates and onto the road into town. He'd never ventured into Castletown before, and was eager to see new sights.

Next to him, Inuyasha had crossed his arms over his head, and looked bored.

Kurama was walking behind them, and Hiei was probably following them somewhere, like a shadow.

As they stepped into the marketplace, Harry and Inuyasha both drew stares- Harry because he was the Keybearer, and Inuyasha for his appearance.

The Boy-Who-Lived was used to being stared at- he didn't like it, but could ignore it easily enough.

Inuyasha, on the other hand... "What are you looking at?" he snarled, sending a few citizens scattering. Harry chuckled under his breath.

"Stupid humans," the half demon muttered.

"Kurama," Harry began, and the fox demon turned a quizzical eye toward him, "How many of the people here are refugees from another world?"

"Not very many, though our numbers grow with each passing day." Kurama replied, sighing. "Most of us are doing various work- guarding the city, patrolling, and some of us have even opened up shops or begun working in one."

Harry felt a trickle of guilt. He wanted so badly to help these people- he needed to see their faces.

"Could we... have a look around?" the Boy-Who-Lived asked.

Inuyasha shot him an unreadable look, but Kurama nodded. "We can take a few minutes to look around, I suppose."

After a few minutes of walking Harry's footsteps led him down an alleyway where a small bookshop lay, and within, a strange power. On a whim, he decided to enter.

Stepping inside, the Boy-Who-Lived's eyes wandered around the bookshelves that groaned under the weight of hundreds of tomes. In fact, there was a pile of books that was actually _moving..._

"Hello? Is there someone there?" the books spoke.

"Uh... yeah! Where are you?" Harry asked, looking around.

A deluge of paper slammed into the floor, and a young woman, a few years older than him, tumbled forth from the formerly precariously placed pile of books. "Oh no! I dropped my glasses!" she yelped, and scrambled about for them.

Harry, having been in the situation many times before, smiled, amused, before he bent down and picked them up for her. They were black, squarish glasses that were quite thick. "Here you are." He said kindly.

She gave a small cheer, and grasped them, placing them on her face. "Thank you," she said gratefully, smiling as she stood. Her light brown, tanned coat swished as she did. Beneath, she wore a black skirt, a brown sweater a few shades darker than her coat, and a collared shirt and red tie.

"This, Harry, is Yomiko Readman." Kurama said, smiling, obviously having seen this sort of antic before. Next to him, Inuyasha leaned into the doorway, looking away.

"Oh! You must be the Keybearer!" Yomiko gasped, and grasped his hand tightly. "I'm so glad to meet you!"

"Ni-nice to meet you too..." Harry stuttered. He could have sworn Inuyasha snickered, but he himself offset by the way that her being buried in so many books reminded him of Hermione. "So... do you work here?"

She nodded. "I love reading. On my world, I was a substitute teacher, but here, they don't have a real formalized school system, so I work here."

"I'm sorry about your world." Harry apologized, looking downwards, feeling guilty again.

"Thank you." Yomiko replied sincerely. "So, are you looking for anything in particular?"

"I'm afraid not. We were merely passing through." Kurama said, nodding. "We should probably get going."

"Wait!" she said, and turned around, burying herself within a pile of books for a moment. When she returned, a small, leather bound book was in her hands. She pressed it into Harry's hands softly.

"You're certain to have a lot of adventures. Do you mind keeping a journal? I think it would be a wonderful story, and true too!" Harry blinked in surprise, taking the book in hand.

"Uh... thanks." He said, unsure.

"It was nice meeting you!" Yomiko said, bowing slightly. Harry smiled and waved.

* * *

Harry didn't exactly know what to expect as he stepped out onto the grassy plains of Hyrule Field. The massive grassland was so expansive, yet he couldn't see a single Heartless. 

"Where's the enemy?" he asked, glancing at Kurama.

Instead of the fox demon answering, Hiei chose to respond. "They're here." he said, appearing next to Kurama without a noise.

Inuyasha tensed up at those words, eager to let out some of the pain he was feeling.

As if those words were a starting gun, five small, bug-like shadows, the ones Harry had fought before, rose from the ground.

"Now this is what I'm talking about." Inuyasha grinned ferally, and cracked his claws. Tetsusaiga might have been useless, but the half demon had lived on his own strength before.

Harry summoned the Keyblade, while Kurama and Hiei hung back, causing the Boy-Who-Lived to look at them quizzically.

"We will observe," Kurama explained. "These are Shadow Heartless... not too threatening."

Inuyasha moved first, and tore through the air, claws outstretched. "IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" his claws left behind three golden crescents, tearing through two Heartless without mercy.

Harry, stunned by the attack, came next, and with a spin strike, sent a third Shadow into oblivion. As a fourth hurled itself towards him, the Keybearer narrowed his eyes, thrusting the Keyblade forward.

"FREEZE!" a gust of arctic wind froze the Heartless a second before it would have struck, and it fell to the floor, shattering.

Even as Inuyasha's claws tore through the fifth Shadow, three more were already rising from the ground.

"Damn them!" the half demon shouted furiously, "Stop wasting my time! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"

Two Heartless fell apart, dissolving into black smoke.

Harry leapt backwards, using the Keyblade to block the claws of the final Shadow. With gritted teeth, he pushed it backwards, feeling the anger coursing through his veins as he lashed out with blinding speed, far faster than he ever had been before.

The Shadow didn't stand a chance.

Breathing hard, Harry felt the adrenaline leaving him with nothing but a sense of weary accomplishment. He cracked a smile, and looked into the sky.

_Ron... Hermione... that one was for you guys. I swear I'll find a way to bring you back._

_**No matter what.

* * *

**_

Being the only human in a party of demons (or in Inuyasha's case, half demon), Harry was the first to tire, staggering up the slopes of Death Mountain.

"Oi, what's the hold up?" Inuyasha called back, glancing back at the panting, sweating Boy-Who-Lived with annoyance.

"Go. To. Hell." Harry gritted out, using the Keyblade as a makeshift staff as he dug it into the ground to balance himself.

Kurama suppressed a smile, and grabbed the Keybearer's hand, helping him up a particularly difficult slope.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and the group watched as a stampede of boulders rampaged down the bare dirt slope.

"Oh balls." Harry swore, and lifted the Keyblade, glancing at Kurama and Hiei.

Inuyasha merely scoffed and leapt forward, destroying a boulder with a single swing of his fist.

Kurama pulled a rose from his hair, much to Harry's surprise, which turned into shock as it became a lengthy stem, covered in thorns. "Rose whip!" the fox demon shouted, and cleaved apart several boulders in rapid succession.

Hiei, much like Inuyasha, looked bored as he ripped his sword from its sheath and sliced the rocks apart.

"Show offs." Harry muttered, feeling a bit left out.

* * *

"So you're the Keybearer," Darunia laughed deeply, and slammed Harry's back with enough playful (mind you, _playful_) force to send him stumbling forward, out of breath. 

"Y-yeah," he managed, sputtering and wheezing.

As if the leader of the Gorons didn't even notice (and he probably didn't), Darunia laughed again. "Bit thin, but yer definitely special." There was a twinkling knowledge in the Goron's warm black eyes that made Harry believe.

"Y'know what?" Darunia suddenly said, a very, very bright smile on his large, lizard-like face. "Its not every day that someone like you comes around, and if you're going to do what you say you will..." he laughed, and clapped his hands together. "I'll make you my Brother!"

Harry blinked. Inuyasha blinked. Even Kurama blinked. Hiei stared.

The Gorons, on the other hand, looked stunned.

"Uh... what's that?" Harry asked, confused.

Some of the older Gorons looked rather offended at the Keybearer's words, but Darunia simply laughed again. "I mean it just like that. You'll be my brother, an honorary member of our tribe, and what's more, my friend." He grinned. "So how 'bout it?"

Stunned by such a generous offer, Harry could hardly refuse. "Of course." He grinned.

"Excellent," the Goron leader smiled happily. "Now, please, feel free to look around our city. You must be tired from the journey."

The travelers thanked Darunia, and left the chamber.

As they left, one Goron approached. "Big Brother... why did-"

"Because Zelda was right." Darunia interrupted, smiling in a reminiscent sort of way. "He really is just like _him._ And what I said was true. I really did want someone like that as my Brother."

His smile widened. "I always do."

* * *

Harry wandered about the city, with a bored looking Inuyasha behind him. Kurama had retired to their quarters, while Hiei had just upped and vanished. 

Gorons milled about, seemingly unconcerned with anything, as though there wasn't some calamity just beyond the borders of this world, waiting to befall them.

It made Harry feel like there really was a chance to save the worlds.

As he walked about, he suddenly paused, noticing a human girl, one with light orange hair, staring intently at the wall, lips pursed and face scrunched in concentration, as though there was something that should have been happening.

Her clothing, Harry noticed, was different. It was dark dress, a mixture of shades of black, which nearly covered her entire body in a concealing sort of way. The red-brown coat over the dress was leather, Harry guessed.

Inuyasha, being a bit more vocal than the Boy-Who-Lived, suddenly said loudly, "What are you doing over there, you stupid girl?"

The girl jumped as though startled, and turned towards them. Harry's emerald eyes found a second pair of emeralds, and for a moment, he almost believed he could have been staring at his mother. But then the features came into view, Italian with a few traits that Harry noticed were more Japanese than European.

She was pale, very pale, and yet despite her frail appearance, something about her presence was... almost unnerving, yet full of hope.

"Sorry about my friend," Harry added, elbowing Inuyasha and frowning disapprovingly, "He's just like that."

"It's fine." The girl said, bowing. "I haven't met any other humans since I came here and-" she paused, and noticed Inuyasha's ears for the first time. Sucking in a breath, she took an involuntary step back.

"Wha-what is he?" she asked, more confused than afraid.

"Inuyasha's a half demon." Harry explained, when Inuyasha turned away, looking miffed. Leaning a bit forwards, he added quietly, "He's a bit touchy about it, though."

"I heard that!" the half demon snapped, causing Harry to jump.

"Oh... and I'm Harry. Harry Potter." The Boy-Who-Lived added, glancing at her to see a reaction.

He didn't get any, which caused him undue surprise. It was like these two people were the only ones who'd never heard a whit about him before he met them.

He smiled. "What's your name?"

"Robin. Robin Sena." She bowed slightly, and then glanced over at Inuyasha.

Robin, with a curious look on her face, stepped forward cautiously, and, as though she couldn't help herself, did the one thing Harry had honestly never seen before.

She touched Inuyasha's ears, squeezed them, and played with them for a moment.

_What is it with women and doing that!_ Inuyasha thought, irritated. "Hey! No touching!" he barked, waving her hands away.

Robin smiled slightly. "Sorry about that." She apologized, slightly red. "I couldn't help myself."

Grunting, the half demon turned aside. "Yeah, well... don't do it again."

Harry leaned in again. "He's not really all that bad. Just a bit on the gruff side." He mock whispered, and Robin giggled.

"I heard that Harry!" Inuyasha snarled, and leapt for the Boy-Who-Lived, who dodged aside, laughing.

Nearby, Robin couldn't help herself, and started giggling madly, holding her sides, feeling better than she had in a while.

The Keybearer's playful laughter, the half demon's angry shouts, and the witch's giggles mixed together to form a single, wonderful harmony that echoed around the Universe.

* * *

It didn't take much cajoling to get Robin to come back to Castletown with them. The witch said a very grateful goodbye to Darunia, Inuyasha merely grunted, and Harry decided that he must have broken a few ribs from Darunia's goodbye hug. 

Honestly, and he had once thought Mrs. Weasley's hugs were tight.

Harry smiled a bit. He was able to think of someone from his world without pain. It wasn't Ron or Hermione or Ginny, but it was still someone.

On the way back, Robin related a bit more about herself, more upon Hiei's demands than Harry's request.

The Boy-Who-Lived was taken aback when Robin said she was a witch, and was only more confused when the girl conjured up a few sparks, calling it a Craft. Frowning, she had stated she could usually conjure up a bit more, but for some reason, was unable to.

Harry mentioned that Inuyasha's sword was also unusable, earning a glare from the half demon and a contemplative look from Kurama.

They, in turn, explained to Robin the situation with the Keybearer and the worlds, mentioning Harry's plan to go out into different worlds and save people.

With Kurama usually withdrawn into his own thoughts and Hiei disappeared, Robin, Harry, and Inuyasha spent more time together, growing more comfortable with each other, to the point where Harry asked Robin if she would come along with him and Inuyasha to other worlds, wanting to go with these two people who knew him first as Harry, Keybearer second.

Robin smiled and agreed, saying that, "Of course. I want to help those people. And... and there's someone I got separated from on my world. Maybe he's on a different one."

Inuyasha shot her an unreadable look, and acted a bit less... gruff with her after that.

And so it was that Harry Potter, Robin Sena, and Inuyasha met.

* * *

Harry ducked low, letting Hiei's stick soar over his head, feeling the wind brush his hair. 

"Too slow." The demon commented, and swung downwards, only to be blocked by the Keyblade.

The Boy-Who-Lived grinned. Hiei didn't even look affected as he disappeared again.

Harry, now more used to his sparring partner's incredible speed, compensated, managing a bare, just a second before impact block again, spinning around.

Again, the demon was unruffled, disappearing, waiting for his chance to strike again.

Despite his ability to now block high speed attacks and almost keep up with an extremely powerful demon like Hiei, Harry knew he was still not capable of winning this fight. He had nothing to compensate for Hiei's speed. A spell might work, but there was no way he'd be able to connect unless the demon was attacking, in which case he could not cast it in time to strike.

He looked down at the Keyblade. If only there was a way to stun Hiei long enough to attack...

A smile lit up Harry's face as he dodged Hiei's next attack, already planning. It was crazy, completely illogical- and perfectly him.

Noticing this, Inuyasha elbowed Robin slightly. "Ya think he's got something up his sleeve?" Inuyasha asked, glancing at Robin.

"Maybe," the witch answered, watching with interest.

Harry closed his eyes, letting the magic flow around him. This was a bit of a risk... but risky experimentation had gotten him out of a few scrapes before.

Magic pulsed into the Keyblade, angry and strong. A rush of wind told Harry of Hiei's approach, and the Boy-Who-Lived's eyes snapped open, and he took short jump upwards, and slammed the Keyblade into the ground.

"Stun Impact!"

Hiei's eyes widened as a dome of indigo energy surged forward, slamming into him and stunning him instantly.

He barely had time to recover when the Keyblade slammed into the stick, disarming him, and then with one movement, into his stomach, sending the demon tumbling backwards.

Harry's eyes widened and he stared, almost unable to believe he'd finally won a match. Unbidden, a joyous shout of laughter burst from his lips, and he grinned like a little kid, even as he fell down on his butt, exhausted.

Hiei stood, looking a bit dazed but otherwise unharmed. "Acceptable. Take a five minute break."

Inuyasha and Robin snickered.

Harry groaned, and fell into the grass, letting the sweat fall like a slow rain.

At least he got a break this time.

* * *

"We've done our best to fix up the navigation system," Washu began, looking a bit put out, "But without the girl, Melfina, the ship won't function as well. The best we can manage is a limited one that locates doorways to each world. We've hypothesized that these are what allow Heartless into a world, and so should allow you in." 

Harry and Robin listened with interest. Inuyasha looked bored.

The half demon and the witch had been given some training in handling the ship's other controls, Robin more so than Inuyasha, since she was used to technology that was closer to this level.

Since it would be the three of them going to different worlds, they all had to attend these briefing sessions.

"You'd best remain inconspicuous," Zelda said, stepping forward. "It would not be prudent to scare those you are trying to save."

"How are you going to manage that?" Inuyasha asked snidely, "After all, we can't exactly hide that ship."

Subtly kicking the half demon's shin, Washu merely smiled sweetly as he howled in pain "We've managed to hook up a teleportation system as well. It'll transfer you to and from the ship. Harry, you get the control. Make sure not to leave it behind!"

"Why him?" Inuyasha asked, rubbing his knee irritably.

"Because he's the most trustworthy, of course." Washu said in a matter-of-fact tone. "No offense Robin."

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched.

Barely able to keep from laughing, Robin managed a breathless, "None taken."

* * *

Harry, as he did from time to time in this hectic, strange, and sort of insane time at the castle, spent some quiet time at Ginny's bedside. No matter how busy his day got, he tried as often as he could to visit her. 

To remind himself that there were people he needed to save.

To remind himself that there was someone who needed his help.

To remind himself of what had been lost.

"It looks like we're getting ready to leave." He murmured quietly, and absentmindedly brushed a strand of hair from her peaceful face. He felt oddly right by doing it, as though it was something only he should be able to do. "I don't know if I'm ready for it, Ginny." He paused, and his face hardened as he took her hand.

Ginny's hand was cool and smooth in his now calloused, rough hand.

The Boy-Who-Lived pressed her cool palm into his forehead, and whispered. "But I promise that I'll find a way to get your heart back. I won't let anything else happen to you. And... and I promise that I'll find the Heart of All Worlds and undo all of this."

Ginny's lips seemed to curve upwards into a gentle smile.

"I swear it Ginny. I swear it on my life."

_And may God have mercy on Voldemort when next we meet... because I won't. _

_He'll never take anything from me again._

_Ever.

* * *

_

Zelda leaned against the doorway, feeling guilty for watching such an intimate moment. Still, she had come here for a reason.

"Harry?" she said gently, so as not to startle the Keybearer.

The Boy-Who-Lived looked up, startled and slightly red as he dropped Ginny's hand a bit hastily. "Ye-yes?" he asked, stammering as he stood.

"Before you leave, I wish to bequeath a few gifts to you. These may come in handy out there." Smiling, the Queen pulled a brown package from behind her back. "Go on," she urged gently, "Open it."

Feeling both pleasantly happy and embarrassed by the gesture, Harry opened the package slowly, delicately. Several items lay inside. First and foremost was a single, deep brown pouch that looked like it would fit on his belt.

Unable to stop himself, Harry looked up at the Queen with mild surprise. She smiled and chuckled.

"It's magic, Harry." She explained, amused. "It's a gift from my friend from the forest, Saria." The way she said friend from the forest, there was a trace of wistfulness, as though she wanted to be talking about someone else. "It can hold a lot more than it looks."

Remembering that on his own world, magic could accomplish the same thing, Harry didn't dismiss the idea, and easily accepted it.

Beneath that was a thin green tunic, brilliant as a spring forest. "Its woven from a synthesis of fibers," Zelda said, "Something Washu is working on. Hyrule has two special cloths- one that allows you to breathe underwater, and one that lets you endure tremendous heat. She's mixed that with the webs of the Skulltula, which is exceptionally strong and resilient. Together, it's a rather powerful blend."

Stunned, Harry managed a breathless, "Thank you."

The Queen merely waved her hand. "You're our last hope, Harry. Our only hope. Its only right that we do everything we can to support you. We can't spare anyone to send with you, but I hope that we can be of some use."

"You've done a lot for me." Harry paused, swallowed, and glanced at Ginny. "For both of us," he added meaningfully. "I'm grateful."

"Now, now, you haven't even looked at the last gift." Zelda cautioned, smiling gently.

Harry moved aside the folded tunic to find a single object. It was small football shape with a single protrusion, with a hole at the end. Four more holes dotted the rest of the shape.

"What is it?" the Boy-Who-Lived asked quietly.

"Its an instrument called an ocarina." She smiled slightly. "It has no special powers, no attributes. Its merely something that I think you might enjoy."

Zelda paused, and seemed a bit torn for a moment. "I won't impose this on you. In fact, this is too presumptuous of me." She stood, and reached for the ocarina. _I'm comparing him too much to-_

"No... I'd like to try, once in a while. And if I can't, at least I'll have a keepsake from the castle." Harry smiled.

Swallowing down a bit of self-recrimination, the Queen nodded.

* * *

The day they left was bright and sunny, as though the Sun itself came forth to wish them luck. 

Harry, Inuyasha, and Robin stepped out into the front lawns of Hyrule Castle to a massive crowd, who cheered them like they had already won.

Robin ducked her head, embarrassed. Inuyasha scoffed and turned his head away. Harry blushed and shakily waved.

Nearest to the ship were those who had the most hope to pin on these three teens. The refugees. Yomiko cheered and waved. Kurama smiled at them. Hiei was nowhere to be found, as usual. Washu grinned and whooped with the best of them. Queen Zelda stood closest, smiling serenely.

And other faces, people Harry wished he had time to meet. Their faces blurred and yet he tried to memorize each one, trying to remember those he was trying to help.

One pair that stood out was a ten year old boy, spectacled and short, who cheered and jumped, much to the irritation of his teenage companion, whose face twisted into a scowl as she berated him.

The boy's nose wrinkled up and he sneezed.

Much to Harry's surprise, a blast of wind erupted forth from him, sending the girl's school skirt flying upwards, and only her swift hands kept her panties from being seen.

Harry blinked in complete bafflement.

Inuyasha blushed and looked away.

Robin put her hand to her mouth daintily. "Oh my..." her face blazed red.

"DAMN IT NEGI!" the red haired girl smashed the boy's head, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Ai... sorry Asuna." The boy apologized, holding a battered head.

Smiling and shaking his head, Harry stepped onto the ramp of the _Outlaw Star._ Turning back one more time, he smiled and waved.

His heart felt lighter than it had in a long time.

"Do you really think they can do it?" Kurama asked, leaning against the wall.

Zelda didn't waver from her vigil, watching the _Outlaw Star_ fly off, a shooting star blazing forth into the dark.

"In this dark hour, we're defended by three strangers, imperfect and hurting." A smile crossed her face.

"And despite all their faults, I doubt that we could have gotten any better heroes."

* * *

Author's Notes 

And now at last, we have truly begun. Who's the summon within the orb? Not telling, but just know that its not an actual angel. It just looks like one. Notice the it.

Harry's spells are Fire, Ice, Thunder, and Cure. Others will follow.

See if you can identify the various cameos. If I get around to it, I'll put a list up in my profile or in a note sometime.

Join my Yahoo group for faster updates and to get questions answered. I won't do any more review responses, since they seem to be out of favor right now. So if you want a question answered, its probably better to post at the group.

Link in profile.


	9. Chapter 8: The Long Road To Eden

"_This is it. This is your story. It all begins here..."_

_-Auron, Final Fantasy X_

Chapter 8 The Long Road To Eden

There is always something... _special_ about doing something new for the first time.

Traveling to new worlds was no exception.

Harry, Inuyasha, and Robin were silent at the moment, each of them listening to their own hearts.

Of course, silence is not always appreciated for its tranquility.

"Are we there yet?" Inuyasha drawled, bored.

"No." Harry gritted out, concentrating on piloting the ship. He wasn't too sure of his abilities just yet... and he didn't want any real distractions. It was hard enough keeping track of everything necessary to keep the ship on course.

"Sensors show that there is a doorway about half an hour away." Gilliam chirped, "Would you like me to set the course?"

"Yes," Harry said, a note of eagerness in his voice.

The thrusters kicked in, tilting the ship into its new direction. Outside, the endless void was only offset by the occasional pinprick of light, which was where the doorways were most likely to be found.

"What do you think this new world will be like?" Robin asked quietly, glancing at the black view screen.

"Who knows?" the half demon replied, putting his arms behind his head nonchalantly. "As long as there's Heartless to fight, I'll be satisfied."

Robin frowned, her face set in disapproving lines. "That's not why we're going." She reprimanded.

"Yeah, yeah, spare me the bleeding heart lecture." Inuyasha grunted, waving his hand dismissively. "You guys can do this for the greater good. I'm doing this for my own reasons."

The witch looked like she wanted to say more, but instead, merely rolled her eyes and leaned into her chair.

Inuyasha cracked open an eye and glanced at Robin. "Oi. How exactly do you do that fire thing, anyway?" he asked curiously, more to find out how much help he could get out of the witch.

Frowning, Robin shrugged. "It's a... gift, I guess. On my world, it's called a Craft, and its an ability witches have. Mine happens to be fire." Glancing back at the half demon, she said, "How about you? How do you have those claws and those ears?"

The half demon grunted, and closed his eyes, turning away. "I'm a half demon, remember? That means I've got powers mortals can't even think up."

Harry really wished they'd at least tone down a bit more. Keeping the ship steady was nerve wracking as it was. "Hey guys, not to be rude or anything, but this is a bit difficult for me. You mind keeping it down?"

Inuyasha grunted, and Robin looked a bit remorseful. "Sorry Harry," she apologized.

The silence returned.

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

* * *

Harry really didn't know what to expect when they teleported off of the _Outlaw Star_. A giant, expansive forest, maybe. An ice world, so cold that they might freeze to death. A world where fire rained from the sky. 

What he was not expecting was the downtown of about any city in the world.

"This doesn't look all that different..." Inuyasha muttered, sniffing the air. "But I can't sense any humans... or anyone at all..."

Robin shivered slightly. "That's what happened on my world. Do you think we're-"

"No. I won't believe that." Harry interrupted, jaw set firmly. "Let's have a look around. There's got to be someone left alive."

_Someone I can save._

There were cars sitting idly in the streets, as though completely unused for years. Trash drifted lazily across the empty roads. Nothing, not even a bird, a cicada, or any living thing at all made a noise.

It was probably the creepiest sight that the Boy-Who-Lived had ever seen.

Nothing about it seemed scary. It wasn't terrifying like the visage of the Dark Lord, or horror inducing like a Dementor.

It was the absence of life. It was a place where you expected to see children running around, going to school, parents driving to work, teenagers hanging around.

Not a place that was as empty as a tomb.

"I don't like this set up. I don't like it at all." Inuyasha murmured, and cracked his claws.

"Me neither." Robin agreed, and reached into her pocket, removing a small, slim silver object that Harry recognized as glasses. He had never seen her wear them before, however.

Their footsteps echoed around them as the group wandered the city, searching with cautious eyes.

Harry felt a deep pit of anxiety growing, and the nagging sensation that they were being watched, somewhere, somehow.

Throughout the city, endless sets of glowing yellow eyes opened.

* * *

Overhead, the sunny sky seemed to offset the disturbing quiet of the shrine grounds. 

"What's is it Hiirargizawa?" a young boy asked gruffly, holding his sword tightly. His face was twisted with annoyance.

"No need to be so gruff, descendant." A second, bespectacled boy chided, sounding older than his years. "I sense... a power. Different than the last one."

"Is it an enemy?" the first one questioned, sounding tense. "We should get back inside with Sakura-"

The second boy smiled, grinning. "No. Its not an enemy. It's..." shaking his head, as if unable to describe what he was sensing, he just kept smiling. "Someone very, very good."

"Tch. Whatever."

* * *

Harry stopped. The feeling in his gut had hatched a slimy, squirming worm that was writhing in his stomach. 

"Why'd ya stop?" Inuyasha drawled, glancing back at him. The half demon's arms were linked underneath his kimono, hiding his claws.

"Something's wrong." Harry muttered, and the Keyblade flashed into his hand, sparks flinging themselves around his hand.

Robin crouched into a battle ready position, and something like an inferno began to kindle in her eyes.

Inuyasha made a "keh", and removed his claws from his sleeves. "Well?" he asked, turning towards Harry.

The Boy-Who-Lived didn't respond, and instead leapt forward, hurling himself forward.

A Shadow's glowing yellow eyes just came into view when the Keyblade sliced it apart, leaving nothing but smoke.

"We've got trouble!" Harry shouted, even as the street became filled with Heartless.

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense..." Washu frowned, looking over Ginny's sleeping form with mild curiosity and frustration. "What makes her different..." 

"It's slightly strange to see someone perched over another," Zelda said mirthfully, gliding into the room with nary a whisper. "But I see what you mean. This girl... whatever connection she has to the Keybearer, that must be why she isn't transformed."

The pink haired genius turned to look at the queen with an expression of irritation. "But that doesn't explain _why_. Why her, out of all these people? From what I can tell, there were others Harry wanted to save." A small light flared behind her eyes. "Wait... maybe they transformed because their hearts were taken into darkness."

Suddenly she leapt up, and a fascinated illumination danced on her face. "I get it... whatever happened to her, kept her heart from being taken!"

Zelda nodded, and glanced at Ginny with an unreadable expression. "Then where, exactly, did her heart go?"

* * *

Harry ducked low, dodging the claws of a Soldier Heartless. This new Heartless had an large helm with one spire jutting out from it, which was bent near the top, from beneath which peered two yellow eyes. Its body was deep navy blue, save for the Heartless crest on its chest. 

Its large, angry red talons nearly tore out his throat as he swung the Keyblade in to block. Sparks irritated his skin as he matched the creature in strength.

Inuyasha tore through the air like a bladed crimson bullet, golden streaks flying everywhere as Shadow and Soldier fell to his claws. One Soldier reared up and raised its red claws, about to rend the half demon's spine.

With prenatural speed, Inuyasha spun, deflecting the blow with his fire rat robe. The Heartless seemed almost surprised, just before the Iron Reaver Soul Stealer shredded it.

His vindictive grin was shrouded by the black smoke of the defeated enemy.

Robin was dismayed to realize that her Craft had been weakened significantly, to a point even before she had attained the Arcanum of the Craft.

Thus, her once towering pillars of fire had shrunk down to fist sized fireballs and sparks, which were able to stun, and occasionally, if she concentrated, she could incinerate one.

A Soldier Heartless fell back, engulfed in flames, while two Shadows shrunk away from her, waiting for an opportunity to strike. She paused, shifting the glasses which perched precariously on her nose.

Harry grunted as he shoved the Soldier backwards, sending a two handed blow slicing through its neck and dissipating it. Even as he regained his balance, another group of Heartless swarmed him.

Narrowing his eyes, the Boy-Who-Lived leapt into the air, and slammed the Keyblade into the ground. "_Stun Impact!"_ the indigo dome sent the Heartless scattering, each of them unmoving and paralyzed for the moment.

Like a snake, he struck out rapidly, destroying each and every opponent with rapid precision, his emerald eyes peering out through the smoke with shining light.

* * *

"They fight very well, don't they?" the spectacled boy mused, smiling at his companion. 

"We should help them." A brown haired girl said quietly, clutching a pink wand nervously.

"Syaoran, Yue, and Kero will protect them. We should use our magic to prevent any more Heartless from overwhelming them while we make our retreat." The boy responded, smiling. "Don't worry, Sakura. Syaoran will be fine."

Swallowing nervously, and with a tiny blush on her face, Sakura Kinomoto, Mistress of the Cards, nodded.

* * *

Harry grunted slightly, and leapt backwards, back to back with Inuyasha and Robin. The half demon was crouched with a feral grin on his face, claws cracked and ready, while the witch glanced worriedly at the still filled streets. 

"Damn... they just keep coming!" the Boy-Who-Lived grunted, and sliced a Shadow who tried to leap at his face.

Before either of his allies could respond, a sound began to echo.

_Thud._

Swallowing nervously, Robin whispered, "What's that?"

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

Large shapes, at least six feet tall, began moving towards them, easily parting the crowd with ease.

When he got a good luck at them, that strange sixth sense instantly had a name.

Shadow Knights. Tall, big, and generally looked as though they'd be massive human beings underneath that obsidian armor that obscured everything but the eyes, those same yellow eyes that loomed in each Heartless. Each either carried a massive broadsword, gleaming like tarnished silver, or a monstrous double-edged axe made of the same material. And at the center of its forehead, a Heartless Crest.

"Now this is getting interesting," Inuyasha said, bravado filling his voice.

Harry was shaken from his fear induced state at the half demon's words, and gritted his teeth and set his jaw firmly. "They don't look so tough." He said, glancing at Robin.

Robin, who seemed paler than normal, managed to stand a bit straighter, finding that tunnel vision mind set which made her a Hunter.

Inuyasha moved first, leaping into the air, a red blur in the air. Before a single knight could move, the half demon was behind them, leaving a knight, quite literally, _disarmed. _As the black armored appendage fell with a clunk, Inuyasha grinned.

-Only to scream out in pain as a fist slammed into his back, sending him crashing to the floor. The Shadow Knight stood, one arm gone and a deep slash in its chest, but otherwise completely unharmed.

"Damn!" Inuyasha swore, dodging a second blow. "Where's its weak spot!"

Harry, thinking quickly, whispered to Robin hurriedly, "Aim for the forehead."

Nodding, the witch narrowed her eyes, and a fireball slammed into the Shadow Knight's helm, shattering the Heartless crest and collapsing the armor, just before it went away in the wind.

Inuyasha chuckled. "I get it... that mark is what keeps you bastards going, huh?" the half demon grinned darkly, cracking his claws. "Then I'll just have to break 'em!"

With a single jump and a spin, he slammed his fist into the center of another Shadow Knight's helm. He grinned wider as he felt the crest beneath crack, and shatter into infinitesimal pieces.

As a second warrior raised its axe to strike, Inuyasha spun, and kicked its helm, sending it crashing to the floor. With a contemptuous sneer, the half demon slammed his foot down, shattering the helmet.

Harry dodged a massive broadsword, letting the wind brush his tunic as he leapt upwards, slamming the Keyblade into its skull. After a few moments, it shattered, and dissolved.

An axe swerved through the air, and Harry's eyes widened, unable to move as it soared, about to chop through his mid-section, and create two halves of the Boy-Who-Lived.

Robin, desperate, closed her eyes, her despair fueling her Craft. _NO!_ No more friends were dying while she was around.

A half moon of fire erupted in mid air, between Harry and the Darkness, blazing defiantly as it actually _blocked_ the axe, inferno made solid.

Harry shot her a grateful look, in the moment before he was forced to deflect another Shadow Knight's blade, leaping backwards.

"There's too many!" he shouted, trying to reach Inuyasha,attempting tobring the other boy back to his senses.

The half demon didn't listen, thrusting his claws forward, striking two Shadow Knights who had charged side by side. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" all the rage and self-hatred from Kagome's loss was overwhelming him, driving him to fight more and more.

It was his demon side, and he was relishing it.

However, Shadow and Soldier Heartless reared up, moving to encircle him, shadows moving in daylight.

Dropping into a low crouch, he snarled, and his eyes glinted with angry hatred.

Just then, a column of terrible fire tore a swath through the Heartless, burning gold and luminous crimson, slicing through the darkness.

Robin was the first to scan the sky, knowing it was not she who created that incredible display of pyrotechnics and power.

"What is that?" she breathed, and Harry looked, just in time to see a beautiful gold lion with large, white wings soar on by, its white underbelly passing over them. When it landed, the gleaming dark silver of its helm, and the glimmering ruby at the center were easily visible.

On its back, a brown eyed boy jumped off, much younger than any of the offworlders. Dressed in a green ceremonial robes, somewhat reminiscent of an Eastern priest's, it flowed from his shoulders to its yellow and orange cuffs. In one hand was a sword that Robin recognized as Chinese in origin, with its distinct hilt, and a rope-like cloth dangling from the end.

In his other hand was something Inuyasha was more familiar with, a yellow piece of paper with sacred writings on it. A talisman.

"THUNDER!" the boy roared, and hurled the paper up into the air, and swung his sword in a half moon arc, thrusting it towards the Shadow Knights. His features were as hard as his diamond like earth brown eyes, his hair matching the color of his eyes.

A burst of lightning, far stronger than anything Harry had ever created with his own magic, struck the Heartless, and annihilated them with a flash of golden light.

The remaining Heartless moved as one, a surge of shadows converging on them, with every intent to send each one to the abyss.

As Inuyasha, Robin, and Harry prepared to fend off the enemy, an ethereal, luminous arrow tore through the air, whistling its battle cry.

As the column of fire did, the arrow demolished the Heartless with ease, bringing destruction in its wake, just before it expended its full force, obliterating everything in its path.

Robin gasped, gaping open mouthed as an angel floated down, a glowing blue bow in its hands. Clad in a long, flowing white robe, with a deep, navy blue sash tied around his waist. At his chest was gold clasped sapphire, which shone in the same way the lion's did. His feet just barely touched the ground, his ivory pants half hidden beneath the swishing robes.

The white wings were again, much like the lion's, long and flowing like a dove's, matching the white-silver of his hair, and the snow-blue of his eyes. His face was rather angled, and was oddly beautiful.

After a moment, she realized he was speaking.

"Get over here, quickly." His voice was the one of a taciturn being, who spoke with actions, not words.

Harry, Robin, and a reluctant Inuyasha (who had to be tugged away), ran towards their newfound allies. The boy gave a low snarl and brought forth a second talisman, gesturing towards the Heartless following them. "Wind!" he slammed the flat side of his blade into the paper, creating a powerful gust of wind, scattering the enemy.

"Get on!" the lion urged, bowing low to allow them on. Robin was the most thrown, the boys having been more familiar with talking animals.

Harry got on almost immediately, while Inuyasha scoffed. "I can handle myself," he grunted, and crouched low, preparing to jump.

"Hope you can keep up," the lion replied, smirking. "Dog boy."

Bristling, Inuyasha glared at the winged beast. "You want to fight?" he snarled, raising his claws.

"Inuyasha! We don't have time for this!" Harry snapped, absolutely amazed that the half demon had the stupidity to fight at a time like this.

Growling, Inuyasha turned away. "We'll settle this later, y'damn cat." He grumbled.

Robin glanced at the winged beast, and said, "Wait, what about the other boy? He needs a ride to-" two strong arms encircled her, holding her by her underarms.

"I will carry you." The angel murmured, and lifted her up easily, his massive wings beating the air away. "Kero, let's go." He said, gaze turning towards the lion.

Kero nodded, and barked at the boy, "Oi! Brat! Get over here already!"

With a crisp nod, the boy back flipped, landing on Kero's back easily. "Let's get on then, stuffed animal." He responded tartly.

The lion bristled, even as they took off, with Inuyasha leaping from building to building, keeping an even pace, leaving the darkness behind... for now.

* * *

Author's Notes

Shorter than the previous two, but more action packed. Trade offs. As you can see, we've arrived in world one- Card Captor Sakura. Don't be discouraged if you don't know this one- there's other worlds.

If you'd like, you could join my Yahoo group. It might encourage me to actually try to discuss this, make polls, drop hints, and be able to respond to reviews in there.

Drop a line in there if you have a question or something.


	10. Chapter 9: Dark Horizon

"_Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."_

_-Helen Keller _

Chapter 9 Dark Horizon

Riding on the back of this creature- Kero, Harry recalled, was much like riding the Hippogriff Buckbeak. The winds whipped at his face, cold and stinging, and the fur, though smooth and soft, began to wear on him.

Inuyasha, true to his word, kept up easily, running at breakneck speed and hoping from rooftop to rooftop. The slight crunch of his feet hitting the ground was effortless, and he almost seemed to be flying, even gliding short distances.

"How much farther!" Harry shouted, glancing back at the boy behind him.

"Almost there." The brown haired boy replied gruffly, pointing towards a shrine within the horizon.

The sun was nearing the end of the afternoon, and the first signs of night were beginning to show, creeping along quietly.

When they landed, Harry hesitantly but thankfully jumped off of the lion's back, feeling his bum quite sore from the ride. The younger boy showed no discomfort, leaping down with practiced ease.

Robin, flushed from the wind and being held so closely, shakily took a few steps away from the angel.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but a loud voice cut through the courtyard.

"Syaoran!" a loud, relieved voice accompanied a pink blur as it tackled the gruff boy, sending him careening to the floor.

The boy's hard brown eyes softened immediately as he held the blur, which turned out to be a brown haired girl, whose hair was lighter than the more auburn of the boy Syaoran. She glomped him happily, while she fired off question after question. "You're not hurt are you? You didn't get injured, right?"

Smiling gently, his visage changed completely, Syaoran nodded. "Yes, yes. I'm fine, Sakura."

"I was so worried!" the girl buried her head into his chest, and he closed his arms around her tightly.

Robin's eyes softened as she smiled at them, feeling warmed by the emotional display.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, wrinkled his nose and turned away, making a "Keh" noise.

Harry smiled too, and felt that this was why he was out here. To make sure no one lost a loved one, and everyone was safe.

"Oi, brat. Let go of her." The lion, Kero growled, rolling his eyes.

Syaoran scowled at the winged beast, but Sakura merely grinned and looked at him curiously. "You're okay too, right Kero? You too, Yue?"

The angel and the lion both nodded, smiling warmly.

"And our guests... you three are alright, I hope." A third child came into view, sapphire haired with large, round glasses that dominated his face and glimmered his cobalt eyes.

Harry was both unnerved by the intensity of those eyes, and familiar with the sort of presence he exuded. A genial, commanding one, much like Dumbledore. "Ye-yeah, we're okay." He said, unsure as to what to do next.

"Thank you for saving us." Robin, thankfully, kept her head and smiled sincerely, bowing formally. "My name is Robin Sena." Frowning slightly, she looked expectantly at Inuyasha, who was still acting aloof.

"Don't mind Inuyasha. He can be rather stubborn," Harry said smoothly, frowning at the half demon and shrugging helplessly at their rescuers. "My name's Harry, though. Harry Potter."

"You're English." The blue haired boy said, raising a single eyebrow.

Surprised, the Boy-Who-Lived nodded, unsure of himself. "Uh... yeah. But I'm from a different England than the one you probably know." Harry said awkwardly.

Again, the boy simply smiled enigmatically. "I see." The way he said it made you believe that he really did understand the confusing statement. "Well, my name is Eriol Hiiragizawa." He made a slight incline of his head.

With a flourishing sweep of his hand, he gestured to the others. "And you have already met Keroberos," the lion gave a slight nod, "Yue," the angel looked at them impassively, "Syaoran," the brown haired boy stared back defiantly, "And this is Sakura." The girl smiled warmly at them and waved.

"And you three," he continued, "Must be here to deal with the Heartless."

"That's right." Harry said, nodding and setting his jaw firmly.

Eriol continued smiling enigmatically. With a single gesture, he stepped aside, motioning towards the temple. "Then step inside, if you would. We have much to discuss."

* * *

Atop a building, across the street, crimson eyes watched with great interest. The Dark Lord Voldemort, clad in a flowing midnight cloak and robe, was hooded, hiding most of his snake-like visage, save for those blood red eyes. 

The boy and those two creatures were of little real threat to him, but the blue haired boy and the girl had extraordinarily powerful magical auras. Either one of them would make a good candidate for his experiment.

The Dark Lord frowned. But the boy seemed experienced, and far too much like that old fool Dumbledore to be easily caught. The girl, on the other hand, was young and, although more powerful, was far too inexperienced to ward him off.

The girl then, Lord Voldemort decided, shadows flitting and malice etched on his face.

"Yes. She will do nicely."

* * *

"The Heartless appeared a time ago, at first in ones and twos, ambushing people in parks and in dark alleyways." Eriol began, his glasses reflecting in the candlelight, hiding his eyes. He sat in the center of the room, in front of the candle. "But soon they came in force. 

"That first assault wiped out nearly half the town, driving the rest of us into the elementary school. We fought them off for some time, but, within a few days, they had whittled us down to almost nothing." Eriol's voice became quiet.

"The five of us, as well as Sakura's brother, Touya, a girl named Tomoyo, and my guardians, Ruby Moon and Spinel, escaped the school, and fled to this shrine. However, the Heartless gave chase... the others didn't make it." Eriol finished, and his voice was tinged with sadness.

The shadows seemed to deepen as they danced about the candlelight, flinging themselves, whirling and twirling, leaving smoky veils.

Sakura made a sniffling noise. Syaoran put his arm around her shoulders reassuringly.

When the name Touya was mentioned, Yue seemed to stiffen and grow colder.

"Damn. We're too late." Harry cursed, clenching his fist, looking down. All that training, all that he had learned- for what?

A gentle hand laid upon his shoulder, and Robin's emerald eyes looked directly at his turned head as she smiled softly. "Don't be sad, Harry. We can still do what we can." She assured him, and Harry felt a small bit of his anger leave him.

"Where are the Heartless coming from?" Inuyasha asked gruffly, glancing at them out of the corner of his eyes. He was seated in the corner, with his sword upraised and resting against his shoulder.

"We're not sure." Syaoran answered, frowning deeply, lines etched on his face. "But we've caught glimpses of a black clad man with red eyes among the Heartless... we think he has something to do with it."

Harry sucked in a breath. "Voldemort." He spat, the name a vile curse on his lips. "That bastard must have known we were coming."

"You know him?" Eriol said. His voice wasn't sharp or surprised, and kept the same cordial tone as before.

The other four shifted, each of them wanting to hear every word.

The Boy-Who-Lived barely noticed, and his voice became low, a mixture of wear and anger. "Everywhere I go, he's there, waiting for me." His voice picked up, becoming stronger, more resolute. "He's my Enemy, and I _will _kill him. No matter what." The words rang out, leaving nothing but stillness.

* * *

Inuyasha crouched down on the rooftop of the shrine, doing what he was prone to do when he wanted to think. Stare at the moon and stars from the highest point possible. 

His mind wasn't on the moon or the stars, but on battles. He had let himself get lost in his anger, and nearly gave in to his demon side today. Only Tetsusaiga's decidedly weakened influence kept his mind from slipping fully into that demonic rage.

The half demon knew he wasn't in this to help other people or save worlds, not in the way that Harry and Robin were. He wanted, needed to find Kagome. And to do that, he needed to stay alive.

He could not afford to succumb to revenge, not until he made sure that Kagome was found.

Suddenly, he was aware of a presence on the rooftop with him. His eyes immediately darted towards the moonlit figure of Yue, whose ivory clothing, hair, and wings seemed to shimmer in the light.

Inuyasha was about to demand what he wanted, when the angel spoke.

"You should take care. The Moon is nearly spent for this cycle, and your powers will not last long." Yue said enigmatically, looking at the moon.

His thoughts racing quickly and his heartbeat beating in his chest, Inuyasha looked up, and cursed.

The moon was barely a sliver of itself.

"How did you-" the half demon began, but the angel simply looked at him piercingly.

"You are bound to the Moon." Yue replied quietly, his blue eyes shimmering with some unknown knowledge. "I am tied to it. I can feel your connection."

Inuyasha, feeling rather disquieted, said nothing.

Yue continued speaking. "You suffer the pains of loss. Tell me... did your most important person fall to the Darkness?" he asked, turning his deep, enigmatic blue eyes onto the half demon.

Unable to stop himself, Inuyasha nodded. "Ye-yeah." His face, just for a moment, twisted in agony, and anguished look of immeasurable pain. And then it was shadowed.

"It hurts. But there are others important to you, and you must not forget that. I almost did once." Yue finished, and looked at him one more time. His words resounded in the air, hanging there, like an ominous prophecy.

* * *

Zelda sighed, changing the wrinkled, crumpled bed sheets slowly, easily. Though not befitting of royalty, she had watched the maids do it and Impa had instilled in her a great deal of self-dependence. 

The Queen looked at Ginny's sleeping face with a touch of sadness, and sighed again. "I do wish you would wake, Lady Ginny." Zelda murmured quietly, knowing that the redhead couldn't hear her. "Harry needs all the friends he has, and to have come so far still holding you... you must be a dear friend."

A quiet knock on the door caused her to turn.

Impa looked at her with a serious expression, but the softness in her former guardian's eyes was detectable to Zelda. "My Lady, the Council wishes to go over the reports from Lon Lon Ranch." The subtle urging was classic Impa.

"Thank you, Impa." The Queen said, glancing at Ginny one more time. "I'll be with them shortly."

Behind them both, Ginny Weasley's hand twitched.

* * *

Harry frowned, leaning against the wall, his eyes drifting outwards into the night sky. The moonlight illuminated his face, highlighting his emerald eyes. 

Voldemort had been here. Voldemort might still be here.

Though the injury had been healed, he still remembered the aching pains of that shadow as it struck out at him, as though it wasn't even Voldemort's will controlling that backlash. Harry scowled deeply, fist clenched until the knuckles were white.

He hadn't even put a scratch on the Dark Lord the last time they fought. Would two months of training possibly make a difference?

Harry knew it wouldn't.

The question was... if-_when_ it came down to it, could he ever hope to match Lord Voldemort's seemingly limitless power?

The door opened with a tiny slam, and the girl- Sakura, Harry though, after thinking for a moment, walked in, smiling slightly with a tray of- spaghetti? Harry had eaten quite a number of strange things in Hyrule, so something mundane like this dish was... unusual, to say the least.

"Are you hungry?" Sakura asked, her brown eyes gentle as she offered the tray, steaming and smelling delicious.

Harry's stomach growled, and he blushed. He hadn't eaten all day, he suddenly realized. "Uh... yes, thank you." He said awkwardly, smiling and finding it easier than usual.

Smiling brightly, Sakura merely set the tray down. "I'm happy you came. Things were looking bad..." her voice was tinged with melancholy and her lip trembled, and once more, Harry felt a surge of anger towards Voldemort. No one, especially such a sweet girl should suffer like this. "But Eriol says you have the power to save us."

She smiled even wider than before, and her eyes closed even as her face brightened. "I'm very happy you came here." Sakura bowed deeply.

Stunned, Harry rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, unsure of himself. "I... I'm not really sure if I do have that sort of power." The Boy-Who-Lived admitted softly. He took a slow bite of the spaghetti, noticing in a detached manner the different taste than what he was used to. "I'm really just a kid who stumbled into this battle."

Sakura looked at him, frowning as she set her jaw determinedly. "That's not true! I can sense the power in you! You're strong, I just know it!" she said heatedly, and, for a moment, Harry believed.

"Thank you." He said gratefully, bowing his own head. "For the food, and for your words."

* * *

Robin sipped her tea, feeling more at home with the familiar taste of Japanese tea in her mouth. 

Eriol smiled in his enigmatic way as he lifted his own cup, but did not drink. "I hope you're enjoying this tea, Miss Robin. Thankfully, it's a luxury we can still afford."

"Its very good. I've missed this type of tea." The witch replied, inclining her head in gratitude.

"I'm glad we can offer you some comforts." The wizard said, nodding his head in kind. After a moment, he spoke again. "So tell me... do all three of you hail from the same world?" his voice had just a trace of curiosity.

Robin looked up from her tea, and paused to reach over for a slice of cake. "No, actually I met Inuyasha and Harry only recently. We've just started traveling together." She paused, and placed the frosted sweet on her plate.

Eriol's eyebrow raised fractionally. "I see." He said, sounding a lot older than his years. "Tell me, why exactly are you three traveling together, if you are all strangers?"

The redhead looked perplexed for a moment, before she shrugged, pausing in the conversation to take a bite out of the cake. The sweet taste filled her mouth, and Robin though she'd never tasted anything so good. "I really have no idea. Harry just asked me to come with him, and I did." She paused, and her brow furrowed as her mouth set itself in a frown.

"I wanted to help out... but I also want to try and find a friend of mine, who might have gotten lost on one of the worlds, like I was." Robin said quietly, and looked downwards, her face filled with melancholy.

"Though all roads come and go, they will always cross again." Eriol stated, smiling as though he knew a secret no one else in the Universe knew. He sipped his tea. After a moment, his smile changed into one of warmth. "Do not be sad. It does not fit with sweets and tea."

* * *

"Do you really think we can trust them?" Syaoran's gruff voice rang in her ears as she stepped out of the room. 

Sakura merely looked at him, and said in a chiding tone, "Syaoran, Eriol says we can trust them. And they seem like very nice people."

The Chinese boy grunted as he continued to lean against the wall of the room. "Well, if _Eriol_ says they're okay..." he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "That spectacled bastard's lied to us before, remember?"

"He had good reason, Syaoran, and you know it." Sakura said defensively, placing her hands on her hips as she stared at him determinedly. "Just because you and him can't get along doesn't mean Eriol has bad judgement. He is Clow's reincarnation, after all!"

Syaoran merely grunted again. "I still don't like it. Just because they say they're from another world..."

Sighing, Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh Syaoran... do you have to be so hostile to everyone?"

Moving from his place against the wall, Syaoran straightened, and looked at her dead in the eye. His face turned gentle, that familiar look that she loved so much. "I'm just worried..." he murmured softly, and wrapped his arms around her.

Sakura sighed, and placed her head against his chest. "I know, I know. But don't be. Everything will be okay, in the end."

And then the everything went to Hell.

* * *

Inuyasha and Yue, on the roof, were the first to act, but even they were slow against the sudden assault. 

Eriol's face twisted into sudden anger and fear for a moment as he knocked over the table, spilling the cake and tea everywhere. The mess went unnoticed, and he and Robin tore out into the courtyard.

Harry was the last to get out, but the first to notice the attack, courtesy of a sudden, angry stabbing into his mind, his scar burning so fiercely that he felt as though his mind was splitting open.

Stumbling blindly outside, Harry summoned the Keyblade, and felt the pain recede as the moonlight illuminated the scene.

Syaoran was screaming and roaring like a wounded animal cornered in the forest, his sword like lightning as it swung again and again, tearing through Shadow and Soldier Heartless alike.

Inuyasha had been cornered by several Shadow Knights, snarling and as ornery as an angry dog, a deep growl emanated from his throat. He leapt aside from the black blade, and tore the head off of the Heartless with one quick swipe.

Robin and Eriol fought back to back, Robin's Fire Craft burning Heartless after Heartless as magical bolts hurtled from Eriol's staff. The staff was a long, gold ornamental metal pole with a large, spiked golden sun affixed to the tip. The boy whirled his staff with the grace of a master.

Yue and Kero were the farthest into the mob, but they were being held back by a wave of Heartless that continued hurling themselves through the air, and even the mighty magicks of these two creatures could not hope to push through.

And beyond them, an unconscious Sakura was held loosely in a cocoon of shadows, controlled by-

"VOLDEMORT!" Harry roared, Keyblade raised as his footsteps rebounded throughout the courtyard, past the other battles, intent solely on the Dark Lord.

Lord Voldemort turned towards the Boy-Who-Lived with an amused smirk, a sea of Heartless between them.

"Potter... how nice of you to come." The Dark Lord said silkily, somehow audible throughout the noise of combat. "I'm here for the girl, not you, boy."

Harry growled, rage filling his mind. He needed to break through, but there was nothing he could possibly do against this many Heartless.

_Unless-_

The orb Kurama had given him, back in Hyrule. It had a great deal of power... maybe enough to end this battle right here and now.

The words tumbled from his mouth before he knew what he was saying, as though it was some half-forgotten ritual he was performing.

"Lend me your strength! Angel of Destruction!" Harry shouted, and immediately, a surge of incredible power roared in his veins, a power bowered from another, channeled through him.

Instinctively, he shifted his grip on the Keyblade as he thrust it forward, as if he were holding a gun. A large orb of golden light began to grow at the tip, and a humming noise filled the air.

Lord Voldemort's eyes widened as he stared at the Boy-Who-Lived.

A storm of violent sparks began spinning around Harry, whirling around the Keybearer, lifting his raven hair as his locks drifted in front of his closed eyes.

The tempest of light began to coalesce around Harry's back, forming the outlines of something much like golden wings, so massive that they spread over twenty feet away from Harry, lighting up the night.

Harry continued to be intoxicated by the immeasurable power surging through him as the summoning began to take effect.

The orb of light at the tip of the Keyblade shined brighter, and brighter.

Everyone's eyes were glued to that orb, and the Dark Lord looked both amazed and fearful, his crimson eyes wide.

The power continued building upon itself exponentially, and Harry felt his magic continue to be a conduit for it, channeling this person's strength as his own-

And then his magic went slack, and suddenly, the orb and wings of golden light faded away into the night and Harry felt himself overwhelmed with intense fatigue.

As he fell to the ground, the last thing Harry saw was the Dark Lord's victorious eyes.

* * *

Author's Notes

That didn't take nearly as long as I feared it would.

Big fights and big twists next chapter.

As always, the link to my Yahoo Group is in the profile. If you'd like a response to a question or want to discuss an aspect of this story, drop me a line in there. It's a fast way for me to get respond to reviews.


	11. Chapter 10: The Right Way, The Easy Way

"_Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right... and what is easy."_

_-Albus Dumbledore, "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire"_

Chapter 10 The Right Way, The Easy Way

"Harry? Harry!" a panicked, familiar voice drifted into the black fog that swirled in his mind.

"Get up! Are you just going to lie down when there's fighting to be done!" another voice, angrier and rougher, shook him.

"Inuyasha!" the first voice reprimanded.

"Keh." The second scoffed.

Harry Potter's eyes opened slowly, as though they were laden with weights. Inuyasha and Robin's faces swirled into view. "Wh-what happened?" he asked hoarsely, trying to stand and finding his limbs heavier than his eyes.

"You tell us." Inuyasha said, raising an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"Those lights... what happened, Harry?" Robin asked, concerned.

Harry struggled to stand, and managed sitting up, placing his hands on the ground as he sucked in air, feeling his chest unusually heavy, as though some massive creature was placed upon it. "I... I tried using something Kurama gave me. I guess I don't have the magic to use it though..." Harry bit his lip, frowning deeply. He shouldn't have been so reckless.

"That was stupid." Inuyasha said bluntly.

Coughing slightly, Harry stood shakily, nodding and smiling weakly. "I can see that now." Thoughts of the battle came back to him, and he straightened, smile falling away like a snowfall. "What happened to the others!"

Inuyasha's face darkened and he looked away.

Robin bit her lip. "Sakura was taken, Harry. Its better for Eriol to explain the rest."

A lead weight dropped into Harry's stomach, and he felt like vomiting. Still, he took a step forward, hoping, praying things wouldn't get worse.

Shakily, Harry, flanked by Inuyasha and Robin, stepped into the shrine.

* * *

Things got worse.

A Hell of a lot worse.

"Syaoran went after this Lord Voldemort soon after you collapsed." Eriol said quietly. There was a slight cut on his cheek, and his eyes were dim with exhaustion. "Yue and Kero followed soon after. I deigned to stay here and watch over the three of you."

"We have to go after them!" Harry shouted, feeling angry and bitter at himself for having wasted so much time when there were lives to save.

"Harry... you're still weak, remember?" Robin reminded him softly, placing her hand on his shoulder gently. "You'd better rest."

"She's right. You're no good to us if you can't fight." Inuyasha added brashly, crossing his arms as he leaned into the wall.

"I don't care." The words were harder than diamond. Inuyasha and Robin's eyes widened, and even Eriol raised a single eyebrow. Harry turned towards Inuyasha with such raw, indomitable will that the half demon felt himself overwhelmed.

"I won't run away from this. I will fight." The Keybearer said, staring hard.

Inuyasha, amazed at himself, broke the gaze, unable to keep staring. "Keh. Do what you like." He scoffed, looking off to the side.

"We'll come too." Robin said, smiling slightly as she stepped next to Harry, nodding her head.

Eriol smiled warmly, and stood, leaning on his sun tipped staff. "I see. Well, I should-" Eriol suddenly stumbled forward, and his face twisted in pain.

"Eriol!" Harry shouted, and rushed forward, grabbing the younger boy before he hit the ground. "Eriol! What happened!" he said, panicked.

"I... I must have used up a great deal of my power in that battle... and I got careless and let a Heartless injure me." There was a deep red spot on the sleeve of his right arm, and Eriol winced slightly, but smiled weakly at Harry. "Please, do not concern yourself. I will be able to heal myself. Go, and help Syaoran."

"But-" Harry began, but Eriol shook his head again.

"I will be fine. Go."

Harry stood there for a moment, frozen, fixed to the floor with indecision. Then Inuyasha grasped his shoulder tightly, and the Boy-Who-Lived's emerald eyes met the half demon's gold.

"He said he'd be fine. Now come on, if you want to fight, then prove it." Inuyasha said, and stared with as much willpower as he could muster.

"We should hurry in order to catch up with them." Robin added, and placed a set of glasses on her nose, pushing them up with two fingers.

Harry swallowed hard. "Right."

As he moved forward however, he suddenly paused. "Wait. There's something I need to get." The others shot him questioning looks, but Harry started rummaging about inside of the bag Zelda gave him, feeling around for-

"There!" Harry exclaimed, holding a small vial of sapphire liquid, which swirled around silently.

"Harry, what's that?" Robin asked quietly.

"It's a magic potion. The Queen said it would help me restore some of my magic if I really need it." The Boy-Who-Lived explained, popping the cork with minimal difficulty. He wrinkled his nose. "It could smell better though..." he murmured, and screwed his eyes up as he downed it in one gulp.

Immediately, Harry felt a subtle warmth inside of him, and some of the weariness left him. He wasn't completely back to full strength, but it would give him enough power to do some good.

"Now I'm ready." Harry said, and the Keyblade flashed into existence.

"Right. Let's go." Robin agreed, nodding her head as she glanced at Inuyasha.

"I suppose someone's got to make sure you two don't get yourselves killed." The half demon said with mock irritation, placing his arms behind his head.

"We weren't the ones who went nuts last battle." Harry shot back snidely, raising an eyebrow.

"What'd you say?" Inuyasha demanded, fist clenched as he lunged forward.

Robin rolled her eyes, and giggled slightly.

Harry ducked low, grinning impishly. "Just making a statement, dog boy." He said tartly, and his grin widened.

"DOG BOY!" Inuyasha hurled himself forward, and the Boy-Who-Lived laughed loudly, ducking away easily.

"GET BACK HERE!" the half demon yelled, fist raised as Harry continued avoiding his (mostly) joking attacks.

Eriol hid a smile behind his hand, shaking his head in bemusement. _Saviors as children. This is for the best... I hope.

* * *

_

Inuyasha landed, feet first, with a small thump on the ground, bent in a low crouch. "Alright, we're here." He said seriously, and then turned his head behind him. "Now would you get the Hell off of me!" the half demon barked, glaring at Harry and Robin.

Nodding, the witch and the Boy-Who-Lived released their hold on Inuyasha's back.

With a wrinkled nose of disgust, Inuyasha straightened, still glaring back at them. "Why exactly was I carrying the both of you on my back?" he questioned irritably.

"Because you're the fastest one, and we can't waste time." Robin responded neutrally, but her lip curled into a tiny smile.

Inuyasha growled, and his eyebrow twitched.

"Enough. Robin's right, there's no time to lose." Harry said seriously, Keyblade flashing into existence in his hand. He had been the one to feel an incredible _wrongness_ in this direction, as though something wicked had been done. It hadn't been his scar, which was a mere faint throb, but in his gut, unsettling and disquieting.

Whatever this new skill was, it was probably because of the Keyblade.

"Where are we, anyway?" Inuyasha said, sniffing the air cautiously. The night moon was a tiny sliver, and the dark shadows crept around every corner.

Robin frowned, and glanced about. "From the looks of it, a playground." She said dubiously, eyeing the two seat swings and large, penguin shaped slide with caution.

Harry nodded, and stepped nearer to the center of the park, where the massive blue penguin dominated. It was a huge thing, comically large with a crown on top of its head and a metal slide running down from its mouth.

He waved the Keyblade in front of him slowly, eyeing every shadow.

"Wait." Inuyasha's voice was low and grave, and he sniffed the air again. "There's blood in the air tonight." His eyes shot toward a small shape on the ground. "Over there!"

The three sprinted across the ground, their footsteps ringing throughout the eerily silent night.

Harry recognized the shape first. "Its that boy, Syaoran!" he shouted, pushing himself harder as he came closer, stopping just in front of the boy as he saw what had happened.

The brown haired boy was in bad shape. His face had a long slash running across his cheek, and one of the sleeves of his garment had been burned off, leaving some seared flesh underneath. To top it all off, he was covered in already darkening bruises.

His sword stood next to him, pierced into the ground as though some force had driven it into the Earth.

"Is he-" Harry began, fear creeping into his voice.

"No, he's not dead. But he's hurt badly." Robin said, kneeling as she bit her lip, frowning, setting her fingers against Syaoran's throat. "He needs medical attention."

Harry's eyes blazed with hateful fury and his fist clenched over the Keyblade, tightening until his knuckles went white. In a blind rage, he looked up into the sky and roared, "VOLDEMORT! WHERE ARE YOU!"

Robin grabbed his pants leg from her kneeling position, looking at him with a stern expression. "Harry, we don't have time for this. You have a healing spell, don't you?"

Cursing his earlier blinding rage, Harry felt his anger settle for the moment, like a giant falling back into slumber. "Yeah." Closing his eyes, Harry gathered the energy, as much energy as he could put into the spell.

His eyes snapped open and he thrust the Keyblade into the moonlit sky. "Cure!"

A tinkle of bells rang throughout the air and a warm emerald light poured over Syaoran, sealing the cut and healing the burns and some of the bruises. He was still injured, but he wasn't in critical condition anymore.

Inuyasha set his hand near his Tetsusaiga out of reflex, barely realizing it wasn't usable. "Who did this to him..." he muttered, frowning as his eyes darted about, to and fro.

"I did." A familiar, but changed voice spoke, ringing throughout the night like a nightmare bell.

Three sets of eyes looked up, and met a single pair of emotionless emerald eyes.

"No... it can't be..." Harry whispered softly, denial desperate in his tone.

"But it is." Sakura said tonelessly, staring at them, her back to the shining light of the moon. In her hands was a slim, shortened pink staff. At the tip was a yellow star encompassed by a circle of the same pink, with two small, feathery white wings sticking out of each side.

And placed over her heart, was the unholy amethyst crest of the Heartless. The angry red slashes stood out against the night, like shining blood.

"Harry Potter. By order of the Dark Lord, I shall slay you." Sakura said emotionlessly, and raised her wand into the air.

Rising up from the shadows, two more shapes appeared.

Yue and Keroberos stood, left and right of, respectively, to Sakura. Their eyes were full of deep sorrow, and their heads were bowed.

"I am sorry, Keybearer. But Sakura is our mistress, and we must obey her will." Kero spoke, his voice a deep rumble as he stood atop a smaller slide.

"Forgive us." Yue said, and he straightened, wings outstretched, blocking the light from his position on top of the jungle gym.

Robin felt a bit of fear in her heart. She remembered the power of these creatures from earlier. "What do we do?" she asked worriedly, biting her lip as she glanced at Harry and Inuyasha out of the corner of her eyes.

Harry didn't answer her, feeling utterly lost. He came her to save these people- now he was fighting them!

"Do? We take em out." Inuyasha's voice was strong, but quiet. As two sets of emerald eyes stared at him, he grunted. "Don't look at me like that. I don't want to do it, but its them or us."

"Each of us takes one." Harry said softly, feeling much like he did back in the Department of Mysteries a few months ago, both calm and desperate at once. "I'll take Sakura."

"Wing boy is mine." The half demon added in, cracking his knuckles. He still felt the need to question Yue more, and fighting was his best way of learning things.

"Then I'll take Keroberos, I suppose." Robin murmured, feeling a bit of trepidation. With her powers so weakened, she wasn't sure if she could take this powerful an opponent.

"Don't kill them. If I can beat Sakura, then they won't have to fight us anymore." The Boy-Who-Lived cut in, keeping his eyes trained on Sakura.

"Do you think you can handle it?" Inuyasha challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Harry set his jaw. "I guess we'll find out." With one quick movement, he set his Keyblade till it faced forward, next to his ribs. "FIRE!" a burst of fire hurtled forward, blazing towards Sakura.

The girl uncharacteristically smirked, and thrust her wand into the air. "Windy!" she cried out, and a glowing, slender yellow woman appeared in the air, looking sorrowful. The woman swung her arms forward, and a terrible gust of wind slammed into the fireball, dissipating it and bowling the Boy-Who-Lived over, sending him tumbling end over end.

Getting to his feet, Harry swallowed. A battle of magic was out of the question, it seemed.

* * *

Inuyasha, meanwhile, tore through the air, claws outstretched.

Yue looked impassive as he beat his massive wings, easily avoiding the attack. His blue eyes had gone icy.

The half demon landed on top of the jungle gym, his feet balancing despite the difficult terrain. With one movement, the half demon hurled himself forward, claws ready to rend through the angel. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"

Once more, Yue simply, dispassionately, pushed his wings backwards, easily avoiding the triple golden crescents. "You're good." He said coldly, emotionlessly. "But not good enough."

"Shut up and fight me!" Inuyasha demanded, fist clenched and raised.

"Very well." Yue said in the same tone, moving his hands until he looked like he was knocking an arrow into a bow. In his hands, a glowing, ethereal sapphire bow and arrow appeared.

Inuyasha's eyes widened as Yue fired the shot.

* * *

Robin leapt aside as the column of shining fire slammed into the ground in front of her. The ground cracked and smouldered, leaving wispy trails of smoke.

The heat of the inferno washed over her face and she winced, trying to keep her eyes on Keroberos despite the smoke. She moved her sleeve in front of her face, blocking the smoke.

A loud, primal roar tore through the night, and Keroberos soared toward her, claws and wings outstretched.

Robin rolled aside, feeling the air shredded behind her as the winged beast flew overhead.

A loud crackle of energy reached her ears and Robin turned as she stood.

Keroberos' jaws were stretched to their limit, and a burning light was shining within. The pillar of terrible fire burst forward, tearing through the atmosphere towards her.

Robin closed her eyes and hurled her hands forward, as if to block the inferno. A deep resonance echoed through her, and she felt as though she had tapped into the fiery heart of the universe itself.

After a moment, she opened her eyes, and sucked in a breath.

Keroberos' column of gold and crimson fire was being blocked by her own, indigo colored fire, formed in the shape of a shield.

The two powers of Flame strained against one another, a clash of wills and elements.

The temperature increased exponentially and the heat was blistering for both of them. The swing set, ten feet away, was burned away in the force of the attack.

Eyes widened as the forces imploded upon themselves, releasing their force in one powerful shockwave of fire and wind.

* * *

Sakura looked down on him with what would have been called contempt if it hadn't been hers. Her lips curled into artificial disgust. "Sword! Fly!" her wand was transfigured into a slim, elongated rapier with a curved hilt. On her back stretched two feathery white wings.

With a single beat of her wings, she tore through the air, clutching her rapier in both hands as it plunged downwards, whistling through the air like a death song.

Harry grunted as he blocked the attack, feeling unnatural strength radiating off of the girl. _It must be that crest..._

He felt his feet shifted against the ground, slipping slowly. The Boy-Who-Lived, realizing his precarious situation, hurled himself backwards.

Sakura followed after him with a sweep of her wings, her rapier like flashing lightning as it whistled its deadly song.

Harry parried one blow, and dodged the next, feeling the wind tickle his stomach as the flashing metal passed by him. Gritting his teeth, he swung out a two-handed attack.

Sakura parried the blow with unnatural ease and lunged forward, the rapier shining in the moonlight.

He was only barely able to spin a bit before the blade connected. Harry winced as the sword sliced shallowly into his arm, tearing into the tunic.

It could have been worse, he realized, if the tunic hadn't been stronger. Silently thanking Zelda for this gift, the Boy-Who-Lived leapt backwards, feeling the warmth of his blood writhing down his arm.

_Damn it. I can't match her in magic or sword fighting... I need an opening..._ Harry thought desperately, even as the blood dripped from his fingers. _That technique!_

Channeling his force into the Keyblade, Harry hurled himself forward ready to slam the weapon into the ground. "STUN IMPACT!"

The orange dome surged out of the point where the Boy-Who-Lived struck the ground, ready to send any opponent into a daze.

"Shield!" Sakura's voice rang out, and the bright outline of another, clear dome appeared in front of the girl.

"What?" Harry gasped, eyes widening as sparks of magic flickered through the air as the Stun Impact and Shield slammed into one another.

Sakura smirked beneath the burst of lights.

* * *

Inuyasha screamed as the arrow tore into his shoulder, shredding through bone and muscle with incredible force. As it passed with a loud, piercing cry that mimicked his own, the shining blue arrow slammed into the ground, expending the last of its force.

The blood dribbled down in a small, pattering rain of crimson, and the half demon clutched his damaged shoulder with his claw.

His eyes opened weakly, his face twisted into a pained grimace. "Damn... my shoulder..." the half demon said, his vision darkening.

"Surrender now. If you stop, I won't have to slay you." Yue said coldly, the glowing blue bow still in his hand.

"Go to Hell!" Inuyasha snarled, his fangs bared. Plunging his claws deep into the wound, covering them in his own blood, he roared, swinging the claw in a backhanded swipe. "BLADES OF BLOOD!"

With a loud, deep crackle, a burst of crimson half moon arcs hurtled forward, tearing through the air.

Yue's eyes widened and he thrust his hand out, a translucent sphere appearing in front of him. The Blades of Blood slammed into the sphere with loud snaps, expending their power against the shield.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth as he fell to one knee, eyes beginning to cloud over with pain as they slowly tried to close themselves.

_This is bad...

* * *

_

Robin opened her eyes, feeling rather relieved she wasn't dead. The ground around her was smouldering and smoking, thick with the stench of smoke.

Coughing slightly, she got to her feet, brushing her dress off and putting her now crooked glasses back upright. The miasma of gray smoke wafted through the air, obscuring everything.

A dark shadow appeared in the gray mist, the familiar shape of a winged beast. "That was... unexpected..." Keroberos rumbled, coughing lightly. "You have a powerful connection to Fire."

Robin shrugged, feeling the still present heat of their attacks in the air. "I've always had this power." She explained quietly.

"Its been weakened... strained from overexertion." The lion mused, flapping his wings softly, as though stretching. "You must have drawn upon too much energy."

Frowning, Robin nodded. "I had to." She said defensively, feeling somewhat offended at the reprimanding tone.

Keroberos frowned, bowing his head. "Sorry, but it seems that my mistress wants me to continue this battle." And with that, he roared, and charged.

The witch crouched low, fire surging behind her eyes. With a loud crackle, a burst of flame tore through the air, forcing the winged lion to dodge to one side.

Undeterred, Robin pulled deeper into her reserves, hurling a barrage of fist sized fireballs through the air with a loud cry, tearing towards the creature.

Keroberos was forced to pull backwards, avoiding several of the fireballs, but a final one clipped his chin, sending the winged lion crashing to the floor.

As the dust settled, Keroberos stood again shakily, looking at her with something akin to admiration.

* * *

Harry winced as the rapier sliced his cheek open, sending a small spatter of blood to the floor. He was losing, and his fatigue was starting to grow, wearing on his body heavily.

_If I don't do something... I'm going to die!_ He realized, and his fist clenched over the Keyblade. _No! I made a promise! I **will** find Kingdom Hearts, and I will destroy Voldemort!_

"I WON'T DIE HERE!" Harry roared, and deflected Sakura's sword, sending her staggering backwards with the force of his power.

Panting heavily, Harry stared hard at the Heartless Sakura. "I... I can't be defeated here. I won't. I won't be defeated." His breath was ragged, and sweat and blood dripped down his worn face. And yet... and yet he felt _it._

_-A flicker of true power-_

And it was enough. Eyes blazing, the Keybearer channeled his anger into the Keyblade, and it glowed with a burning amber light. "Blitz!" he yelled, and leapt forward, slamming the Keyblade down.

"Shield!" Sakura's emotionless voice blazed, and her translucent shield appeared, blocking the attack with a loud, ringing cry. The shield strained, but didn't break. Sakura smirked, but then her eyes widened at Harry's expression.

He was smirking too.

Pulling the Keyblade backwards, he leapt upwards again, his weapon raised and still burning with power as he slammed it back down.

Sakura's eyes widened as the shield shattered with a loud, wounded cry, leaving glimmering shards of light soaring through the air.

"ITS OVER!" Harry roared, and the Keyblade flashed, the final strike of his Blitz coming down with a loud whistle.

The attack connected in a blinding flash of light that washed over the battlefield that was once a playground.

* * *

He felt the blood seeping through his fingers and Inuyasha sucked in ragged breath after ragged breath. The pain was intense.

"Why do you keep fighting?" Yue asked curiously, the first emotion he'd shown this entire battle. "What drives you to continue despite the pain?"

"You wanna know?" Inuyasha asked darkly, his voice haggard and deep. He coughed, and a bit of blood filled his throat. "I have someone to protect... someone who I lost!" he screamed, and hurled himself forward, claws outstretched.

"IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" the half demon roared, moving faster than he had before, despite his ragged wound.

Yue's eyes widened as the golden crescents tore into his chest, ragged streams of blood flying. If he had been any slower, he'd be looking at his own heart.

"And I won't let anyone stop me from finding her again..." Inuyasha growled, his voice full of primal anger.

"I understand." Yue said quietly, sadly, looking downwards. "But I must follow my mistress' orders." The glowing blue bow appeared again, and he knocked an arrow, moving into an archer's stance.

Inuyasha bit his lip. _I can't survive another arrow... but his aim is too good. I can't dodge, or block._ A realization hit him, the answer shifting into his side. His eyes shot towards Tetsusaiga. _Unless..._

"Farewell." Yue said, like a death knell.

The arrow shot through the air, whistling the incoming death.

Inuyasha grabbed his sword and, without unsheathing it, pulled it forward, in front of him, at chest level.

Yue's eyes widened.

A crackling barrier of energy appeared, and Yue's sapphire arrow strained against it, sparks and small shocks of power flickering through the air.

The half demon grinned, relief spilling out across his face, despite his wound. _Tetsusaiga's barrier is still there... _His lip curled into a snarling, feral grin. "Now I can take you down."

* * *

"Wh-why..." Harry said, shocked as he fell backwards, Keyblade in his shaking hands.

Syaoran stared at him coldly, his blade smoking from intercepting the Blitz attack. "Sakura is my precious person." He said calmly, crouching as he placed his sword behind him, his other hand nearly touching the ground. "I will not allow you to hurt her."

Behind him, Sakura looked at Harry triumphantly.

"She's been turned!" the Boy-Who-Lived shouted, looking at Syaoran desperately. He couldn't take out two people, and definitely not someone who wasn't a Heartless.

"You wouldn't understand!" Syaoran snapped, shaking his head as he lunged, swinging his blade downward. "It doesn't matter to me what she's become." The Keyblade and sword met, sparks shrieking through the air as hard brown eyes met conflicted emerald.

"She's not herself! She's just a puppet now, for Voldemort!" Harry shot back, straining against Syaoran. "Don't you get it! Sakura may look the same, but all she is now is a soulless shell!"

Syaoran's eyes blazed and he shoved the Keybearer backwards, staggering. "I know that! But tell me this!" he gritted his teeth and looked downwards, fists clenched until they went white. His head shot up, hair swinging wildly as he stared demandingly at Harry. "How could you raise a blade against those you love! Tell me that!"

It was as though the Boy-Who-Lived had been struck by a five ton hammer. He staggered backwards, blinking, his own fists now clenched tight.

_What... what would I do if Ron had been turned... or Hermione... or Ginny..._ he closed his eyes, indecision overtaking his will to fight. "I..."

Syaoran hurled himself forward, swinging his sword as it flashed in the night.

Harry, eyes wide, barely blocked it, his heart not in his weapon as sparks flared around his face, irritating his skin.

"Tell me what am I supposed to do if I have to fight the one I love..." Syaoran said quietly, glaring at him balefully.

Freezing, the Boy-Who-Lived stared with uncomprehending eyes, his face stricken and his heart caught at an indecision.

Unbidden, Harry's memories flashed in his mind.

"_Harry... remember, we love you." Hermione whispered softly._

"_We'll always be right with you mate." Ron chipped in, smiling._

_Ron and Hermione, battling valiantly, desperately against a horde of Heartless, all to protect him..._

"They wouldn't be fighting me." Harry said, a new confidence filling his voice, and he looked up at Syaoran, whose eyes widened. "Those I love would never try to hurt me! And you know that too!"

The boy was now the one who looked struck, and he looked back at Sakura's emotionless face with new understanding. "You-you're right." He whispered softly, and clenched his hand over his sword.

Slowly, Syaoran turned towards Sakura, and raised his blade against her. "I will stop you." He said quietly, his voice sad but strong.

* * *

Robin hurled her hands forward, blocking the furious column of fire that blazed through the air with her own flame.

Keroberos broke off the attack, not wishing for another explosion. With a loud roar, he tore through the air, claws flashing through the night.

With a low grunt, she hurled herself to one side, narrowly avoiding being sliced apart as the wind whistled over her head, rustling her orange hair.

Seeing an opening, the witch's eyes narrowed and a burst of flame slammed into Kerobero's back, sending the lion crashing to the floor once more, leaving a cloud of dust drifting in the air.

Silence waited with bated breath.

A column of golden fire soared through the air with a loud roar, lighting up the shadows of the night.

Robin frowned, crouching even as she tapped her power. _This is going nowhere... I need to end this soon, or I'll run out of power..._

Her eyes flickered towards the penguin slide where Harry was fighting. _Please hurry Harry... I don't know if I can win this fight.

* * *

_

"Blades of Blood!" the crimson half moons whistled through the air and slammed into Yue's shield, sending crimson sparks flying through the air with loud cracks.

Blue eyes met gold eyes over the clashing powers.

Inuyasha growled as he leapt through the air, his blood flinging through the air as he slammed the sheathed Tetsusaiga downwards.

Yue raised his hand again, and the energy fields struck one another, loose bolts of energy tearing through the air with loud crackles.

The angel's eyes widened as Inuyasha's sword pushed through the shield, slowly but surely, like an unrelenting avalanche.

"Its over!" Inuyasha shouted, and plunged downwards, sending the Tetsusaiga downwards, crashing into Yue's head with a loud crack.

Yue's eyes rolled into the back of his head and the angel fell backwards, a stunned look fixed upon his face. His appearance changed immediately. The wings faded away, as well as the robes. The hair changed from snow white to deep silver, and glasses, round and wiry, appeared on the face of a teenager probably around Harry's age.

Inuyasha panted, and fell to one knee, feeling the pain surging with a vengeance. "I... did it." He gasped, breath shallow. Despite himself, his lip curled into a grin.

* * *

Syaoran's blade met Sakura's with a loud, resounding clang as sparks flew. The boy's face was twisted in pain but he kept pushing against the emotionless girl's sword.

Harry leapt in then, Keyblade soaring through the air, about to slam into Sakura's rapier.

Realizing her position, she flew backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack. Narrowing her emerald eyes, Sakura shouted, "Thunder!" a burst of lightning soared from her blade, forcing Harry and Syaoran to leap aside, left and right, respectively.

With a loud rustle, Sakura charged Harry, her blade flashing through the air as she attempted to dice him to pieces.

Harry blocked and parried, loud clangs ringing through the air and his arms with each blow.

"Wind!" Syaoran's voice rang out, and a powerful gust flew through the air with a loud roar.

"Shield!" Sakura responded, and the cyclone was deflected away, tearing the ground apart with clouds of dust and debris.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "BLITZ!" the burning amber attack flared around the Keyblade and he leapt into the air, ready to slam it directly into the translucent shield.

Sakura's lip curled, and she stared at him victoriously. "Time!" she cried out, her voice ringing through the night.

A strange feeling passed over the Boy-Who-Lived, and his eyes widened.

The Heartless girl was flapping her wings, high in the air with a superior look on her face. "My magic is unbeatable, Keybearer." She said coldly, staring at him. "You cannot win this battle."

Harry felt a bit of despair creeping into his heart.

"Don't listen." Syaoran said gruffly, clutching his own sword defensively. "The Time Card is incredibly straining. That's why she hasn't used it till now." He bit his lip, and frowned. "I doubt she can use it again."

"But how can we beat her?" Harry asked, keeping his eyes trained on the girl. "She's too strong."

Syaoran looked at him for a moment, then stared back at Sakura. "I'll distract her. You take her out with that attack." His voice wavered for just a moment.

"I wish it didn't have to be like this." Harry said, his words unbidden but he meant every syllable.

"So do I." Syaoran whispered quietly, and then launched himself forward. "THUNDER!" a crash of sound and a burst of light resounded throughout the night, tearing forward at Sakura, who laughed as she dodged the attack, plunging downwards towards the boy.

He leapt backwards, avoiding the whistling slices and Sakura continued lunging, her feet not touching the ground as her wings beat a frantic pace. With a loud cry, she slammed the blade downwards.

Syaoran blocked the rapier, looking at her with a deep, heart broken sorrow. "I'm so sorry." He mouthed inaudibly, and Sakura's eyes widened and she turned, just in time to see the Boy-Who-Lived plunge downwards.

"BLITZ!" Harry shouted, feeling a deep sadness in his heart as the attack connected with the Heartless crest, amber light bursting across his vision even as he saw and felt the amethyst symbol shatter underneath the Keyblade's force.

Sakura fell backwards, eyes closed as her sword dissipated into a small, star pendant and fell to the ground at the same time as its master.

Across the way, Keroberos paused, and looked saddened. "It is done." The lion rumbled remorsefully.

Robin looked both melancholy and relieved as she sat down heavily on the ground, exhausted, sweat dripping down her pale face.

Syaoran caught Sakura in his arms just barely. His face was at once relieved and pained. With a choked sob, he clutched the unconscious girl to his chest tightly.

Harry looked at them both with sorrow in his heart. "I'm so sorry..." he whispered quietly, and closed his eyes, a tear falling down his face.

He had won... but the cost had been far too high.

* * *

Author's Notes

The Card Captor Sakura arc is finished. As I hoped, it wasn't a very happy ending, now was it? I hope you enjoyed these past few chapters, since this is the pattern the rest of the story will be following for quite a while.

The next chapter is focused more on the aftermath of this battle, and then Harry and the gang will be heading back to Hyrule to rest up. The new arc won't start until Chapter 12, so be prepared for more of a character, not action driven chapter next. Saying that, it'll take a bit to complete.

It would please me greatly to see any interested reader joining my Yahoo Group. Link in profile, as always.

Till next chapter!


	12. Chapter 11: Intermezzo

_"Even if you see 'em comin', you're not ready for the big moments... It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are." _

_-Whistler, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" _

Chapter 11 Intermezzo

_A connection has been severed._

Deep within the Darkness, crimson eyes opened, full of wary interest.

"I see... she failed, then." The Dark Lord mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But after all, it was just the first attempt."

Standing from his throne of shadows, Lord Voldemort looked to the endless multitude of worlds with interest.

"Now... which will be next?"

Reaching out, he touched each world, searching for another.

After all, he had lost one pawn.

And had billions more to go.

* * *

Eriol leaned against the doorframe, eyes on the lightening horizon, tinged with streaks of indigo-red, the sun not daring to show its face just yet.

His eyes were tired but his body refused to give in just yet. Not until he made sure.

Just then, something different was on the horizon.

As the light slowly, cautiously rose up from the darkness, they appeared.

They weren't conquering heroes by any long shot, but they were alive.

Harry was piggy-backing Inuyasha on his shoulders, looking tired and ragged and utterly spent, as though he had been defeated in victory.

The half demon's shoulder was profusely bleeding, a brutal wound that Eriol recognized as Yue's arrow's handiwork. He was unconscious.

Robin walked alongside them, her face scratched and blistered from the battle, and her eyes were tired.

Yue had reverted back to his other form- that of his human one, Yukito. The gray haired teen looked crushed and depressed, like a puppy kicked into the rain.

Keroberos was carrying Syaoran on his back, who was carrying the comatose Sakura in his arms. Both carried looks of deep mourning sorrow.

It wasn't the picture of returning heroes. In fact, it looked more like they had just narrowly survived a brutal massacre.

It was defeat. Or at best, a Pyrrhic victory.

But the boy looked beyond, and saw the smallest, tiniest glimmers of hope.

They were wounded and tired and hurting, but still, Eriol smiled.

* * *

No one spoke for a while. The silence was thick with unsaid thoughts and deep melancholy.

There was no need for words, not really. They had fought a battle together, bled and wept for the same cause.

Inuyasha stirred, and his eyes fluttered, trying to rouse themselves.

"Inuyasha?" Harry asked cautiously, leaning over the half demon. "Are you awake?"

Groaning slightly, the silver haired boy pushed himself up slightly, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "Ye-yeah." He managed, sucking in a slow, deep breath. Looking up at the Boy-Who-Lived, he asked, "Did we win?"

Harry bit his lip, and looked away. "In a sense." He replied quietly.

Inuyasha followed his gaze and saw the unconscious Sakura held tightly to Syaoran's chest. The brown haired boy was distraught, pulling her head closer to his chin and not saying a word.

_-Tsubaki's curse had relented for just a moment, and he held Kagome in his arms as her bow clattered to the floor. "Inuyasha... I'm sorry..." she whispered, and he knew it was unneeded. She would never purposefully aim her weapon against him-_

Inuyasha's face softened and he looked downwards. "Oh." He said helplessly.

"Syaoran... you'd best take her to a bed." Eriol said gently, and tugged the practically dead to the world Syaoran and the literally dead to the world Sakura away, into another room where Yue and Keroberos had been placed.

And so it was just the three of them again, as the door swung shut.

Not one could speak for the moment, a feeling of great depression among the three.

"We won, didn't we?" Robin asked quietly, looking up at the two of them as though desperate for an answer. "I mean, we stopped-"

"We stopped _nothing_!" Harry snapped, standing up abruptly, fist clenched. With a strangled roar, he smashed his fist into the wall, leaving a small web of cracks in the wood. When he removed his fist, it was raw and a trickle of blood wreathed around it "Voldemort got away, and all we did was beat Sakura up!"

"If we hadn't, she'd have taken us out!" Inuyasha said, not feeling any belief in his own words, despite their truthfulness.

The Boy-Who-Lived rounded on the half demon, eyes blazing with sad fury. "We accomplished _nothing_ here today!" he hissed angrily, staring down the other boy with his emerald eyes. "Voldemort still won. We attacked someone who had no choice in fighting us."

"She's not dead, Harry." Robin murmured, looking up at him pleadingly.

"She might as well be." Harry spat, rounding away from his friends with an angry turn. He let out another angry growl, and clenched his fist. "Is this all we can do?" he demanded of the Universe. "I came here to protect, but instead I have to fight the people I came to save!"

No one said anything. No one _could_ say anything.

"This will never end until Voldemort is dead." Harry said quietly, a sort of revelation he'd already known. "No matter how many worlds we go to, until that bastard is in the grave this will_ never _be over."

Truer words were never spoken.

* * *

When Eriol reentered the room, he could tell something had been said, something important and something not for his ears.

He smiled a little, just a tiny bit. "Syaoran is watching over Sakura... I don't think he wants company." He announced, and looked at each of them in turn. "What will you do next?" he asked.

Harry frowned. What more could he do?

"Well, I guess-" the Boy-Who-Lived paused, and suddenly felt a pulsing, deep in his chest, as though his heart was resonating. He closed his eyes, searching out the feeling instinctively.

"Harry?" Robin asked, peering at him curiously.

Unheedingly, Harry passed them all in a daze, summoning the Keyblade with nary a thought.

Inuyasha uncrossed his arms and followed, feeling rather disquieted. The others followed suit.

The pulsing quickened in Harry's chest and his steps pushed him through the shrine, past the still oblivious Syaoran and comatose Sakura, through another set of doors, where a study with a single candle, bright against the dark, lay.

On the desk was a bright pink covered tome inscribed with circles and elaborate, overlapping designs, all of which were mystical. A golden latch kept it closed. It was glowing faintly, and the resonance grew stronger.

The soft light was something familiar to Eriol, but he couldn't quite place where he had ever felt such a power before.

Raising his Keyblade, Harry's eyes opened. The tip of the blade began glowing brightly with golden light that filled the room, deeper and older than Time.

The two lights shined, like responding to like, one power recognizing another.

With a swift movement, the Keybearer thrust the key shaped weapon forward, and a beam of the purest shining light struck the book, which began to glow even brighter in response.

Barely aware of what he was doing, Harry twisted the Keyblade, as though he were locking a door.

For a single, brief moment, the world exploded in a brutal kaleidoscope of lights.

Harry felt himself touching something wonderfully infinite, as though with just a bit of effort, he could grasp the Universe itself-

And the world reappeared to their eyes with a loud, booming thud, as though a great door had swung shut and been locked tight, the book and Keyblade's lights faded, leaving a dazed Boy-Who-Lived and confused friends.

* * *

Inuyasha, unsurprisingly, was the first to break the silence. "What the Hell was that?" blunt and to the point, as he always was.

"I-" Harry began, but paused.

"_In a few sources, it states that the Keyblade also has the ability to lock the heart of individual worlds, protecting them from destruction by the Heartless." _

Zelda's words returned to him now, and he cursed himself for forgetting. "I've locked the heart of this world. The Heartless can't get at it now and destroy it." He explained quietly, mostly basing his idea off of theory. "But I don't get it." Turning towards Eriol, the Boy-Who-Lived stared at the blue haired boy with confusion. "What does a book have to do with the heart of this world?"

Eriol smiled. "That book is the nexus of this world. It is what started Sakura on the road to learning magic, and it is what brought Syaoran and myself to meeting her. In short, it was the catalyst and the center point to events in our world."

An enlightened look spread across his face. "Ah. I see. The heart of a world isn't a heart, but something... key to the world, an object important enough that it is perhaps the center of the events."

"So, I have to find these objects, and seal them." Harry said quietly, more to himself than to Eriol. It wouldn't end this war, but it would buy them some time, until he could destroy Voldemort.

"Do you really think this will stop the Heartless?" Inuyasha asked skeptically, arching a single eyebrow.

Harry looked at him helplessly. "For now, it's all I can do."

"Are you going then?" it was an hour after the sealing, and Eriol had left to check on Yue, who had woken, but wouldn't be in any good shape for a while.

Harry bit his lip. He wanted to go to another world immediately, but with Inuyasha's shoulder in that condition and his and Robin's magical reserves exhausted, going to another world was suicide.

Especially if there were more foes like Sakura out there.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Robin asked concernedly. "Right now, only you and Keroberos can really fight, Eriol. And you're wounded." She added, gesturing towards the red spot on his arm.

"We could take you back to Hyrule, the place we left from." Harry interjected.

Eriol shook his head and smiled. "This is our world. You have struck a great blow against the Heartless, and they will not be at their full strength with the heart of our world locked." He replied serenely. "Syaoran, heartbroken as he is, can still fight. We will stay."

Harry frowned, and looked at the blue haired boy seriously. "Are you sure?" he asked dubiously.

Eriol nodded and smiled a bit wider. "This is a place worth fighting for. But before you go," he began, and each of them looked at him curiously, "There are a few things we wish to impart with you."

A screen door opened, and Keroberos and Yue stepped through. Yue was back in his angel form, but there were bandages wrapped around his forehead.

Inuyasha did not look abashed.

Keroberos stepped towards Robin with a benevolent look on his feline face. "For you, wielder of Fire. I will add my strength to yours, to help rebuild your powers." A warm, fiery light like a hearth drifted from his mouth and drifted towards Robin.

It descended into her breast and the witch felt a spark ignite and become a roaring blaze. Robin looked at the winged lion in gratitude. "Thank you very much." She bowed, and Keroberos inclined his head in turn.

Yue stepped towards Inuyasha, a hint of remorse in his eyes. "I am sorry for our battle." The angel murmured, and the half demon shrugged and gave a "keh" sound. "As a token of my apology, I will do my best to reawaken your sword."

Inuyasha's eyes widened as a royal blue light shimmered on Yue's hands as he touched the Tetsusaiga, which began to pulse slowly, sluggishly, and then faster, like a heart.

Sighing, Yue pulled back, fatigue etched on his face but also a smile. "I have done all I can."

Eriol stepped towards Harry, who looked at him with mild amusement. "None of my powers have been weakened." He said, shrugging.

Smiling, the sorcerer shook his blue head of hair. "While I was checking on Yue, this... urge to create suddenly came to me. The book resonates with it." Reaching into his robes, Eriol revealed a single keychain with a pink encircled yellow star.

The same symbol as Sakura's.

"I call it the Celestial Hope Keychain." Eriol said, and Harry's eyes were drawn to it. "I do not know what it can do for you, but please, take it." He pressed it into the Keybearer's hands

Smiling, Harry took it. "Thank you." He pocketed it, feeling something resonating in his heart.

Whatever this Keychain was, it would prove its worth soon enough.

"And I have one more gift, one that is from Sakura, even if she could not give it herself." From his robes again, he removed an object. This time, the tome that Harry had sealed. From it, he removed a single card, about as long as his hand from wrist to fingers, and pink.

Briefly wondering if pink was a symbol of power in this world, Harry looked at it curiously. Emblazoned in bold letters at the top was the name of the card: "Windy." Harry murmured, and stared at Eriol.

"These cards are what amounted to spells for Sakura. They have wills of their own, but they follow the Card Master, or in Sakura's case, Mistress." Eriol explained without prompt. "Windy wishes to impart her own gift. She was Sakura's favorite card."

The ethereal, soft yellow woman he'd seen earlier appeared in the room, smiling down at him with gentle red eyes. Her arm moved, and she placed her hand forward, palm first, towards him.

Slowly, Harry placed his hand against the Windy card's.

Immediately, a surge of energy ripped through him, and he sucked in a breath. Before he realized it, the knowledge was imprinted in his mind, forever and always.

"A spell..." Harry breathed softly, panting slightly. "She's given me a spell."

The Windy disappeared slowly, zephyrs of yellow wind whispering away back into the card. Without a word, Eriol put it back inside the book and placed it in his robes.

"I have one final gift for the three of you." Eriol said quietly, but he wasn't smiling. "I have the ability to see the future, though as of late, they are mostly premonitions. If you would like, I could attempt to read yours."

Each of them nodded, each of them wanting to know.

Inuyasha stepped forward first. _This might be my chance to find Kagome._ Eriol looked at him, hard, for a moment.

A minute passed and Eriol frowned, and his brow furrowed as though something deeply disturbing had occurred to him.

"What?" Inuyasha said, uncomfortable with the silence.

"Love is your curse and your salvation." He sighed, and wiped his glasses against his shirt tiredly. "I am sorry, but that's all."

The half demon looked as though he had been struck, and turned his head away quickly. No one dared ask what the phrase meant to him.

Turning towards Robin, Eriol smiled with fake humor "The protector is gone, and only the Hunter remains." He murmured sorrowfully.

Her brow furrowed and her eyes were full of confusion, but she did not speak. "Thank you." She said quietly, and turned away.

Harry felt nothing but trepidation as he stepped toward Eriol, who remarked humorlessly, "It appears the future is grim. But fear not... I hope that these things will not come to pass, my friends." Yet as he turned toward the Keybearer, the worry lines on his face only deepened.

Something ominous was in the air.

"This quest of yours is a great one, Harry Potter. Yet there are greater things awaiting you... if death does not claim you." Eriol's eyes clouded for a moment, and when he spoke again, it was in a much different tone, an ancient prophetic tone. "When you need it the most, true strength lies without and within." The tone deepened and darkened.

"Beware, Harry Potter. The Darkness is hardest to see in the Light, and in victory, all you may have gained is a greater and more terrible foe than before."

The words chilled Harry to the bone. _Greater and more terrible..._ words he had heard before, three years ago- in his third year, alone with Professor Trelawney, in the North Tower.

And on that very night, the beginnings of the Dark Lord's rebirth were set in motion.

Eriol looked incredibly sad, tragically so, for a moment, as though he had witnessed the fall of a loved one. "Though I cannot know whether you will win or lose, Harry Potter, I know only this." His clouded gaze pierced into the Keybearer, and Harry felt a chill.

"In a month, a week, a year, no matter how much time passes or how strong you become, you will fall to your enemy. This you cannot escape."

* * *

Harry, unable to cope with what Eriol had just predicted, fled the shrine, stepping out into the morning sun that felt bitter on his face.

Despite his wounds, his magical and physical exhaustion, and the fact that he hadn't eaten or slept in hours, he couldn't hope to sleep.

Having your own death predicted was something of a downer.

The sun beat down on him, as though the Universe had decided it was "Piss On Potter" day.

Sighing, he sat himself down on the stone steps. After a moment, Harry clenched his fist and scowled. "Prophecy or no prophecy, I won't let Voldemort win."

What would come would come. He would meet his end in the way of his father, straight backed and proud, not giving an inch and fighting to the end.

Feeling a small bit of tension leave him, Harry relaxed a fraction, and looked up at the sunlight, beaming and defiant.

And then his world exploded into a whirlwind of crimson and agony.

* * *

_He was standing in the infinite Void. _

"_I see you bested my proxy, Potter." The Dark Lord hissed, crimson eyes flickering in the darkness as he appeared, tall and pale and cloaked in shadow._

"_Voldemort!" the Boy-Who-Lived spat, and the Keyblade appeared into his hand, blazing forth against the dark, a single defiant spark._

"_No need for that, Harry. I simply came to talk." Lord Voldemort said easily, waving his hand dismissvely as he turned away from the teen. "All I want is for you to hand over the Keyblade."_

"_Never!" Harry hissed, staring his enemy down, and swung the Keyblade. _

_In a storm of shadows, the Dark Lord disappeared, and reappeared a few feet away, looking at him with an amused smirk. "Really, Harry. Attacking an opponent when his back is turned? You're even more like me than I realized." _

"_SHUT UP!" the Boy-Who-Lived snarled, and hurled himself forward again, but the Dark Lord raised a hand, and a barrier of shadows rose up and blocked the attack, sending loose bolts of violent power scattering about._

"_If you will not submit, then you will be destroyed. There are many worlds, but they share one destiny, boy." Lord Voldemort hissed dangerously, over the crackle of energy. "To be plunged into Darkness."_

"_NEVER!" Harry roared defiantly, pushing the Keyblade against the Darkness._

"_As riveting as your, teenage tantrums are, I am afraid my time here is up. Until next we meet, Harry." The Dark Lord said condescendingly, and the world was shattered by a whirlwind of sound and shadow-

* * *

_

"Harry? Harry!" rough hands shook him and the Boy-Who-Lived's eyes snapped open, then closed, shielding themselves from the sun.

"Inu-Inuyasha?" Harry croaked, glancing up at the silver haired boy, and then looking away. "Robin?"

The orange haired witch looked at him worriedly while Inuyasha stared at him. "Are you alright? You were screaming." Robin said concernedly.

"I-I had a vision of Voldemort. He was talking to me, through my scar." Harry explained, pain evident in his voice.

"What?" Inuyasha demanded. "What the Hell do you mean, talking through your scar? Are you stupid?" he said, looking at him in disbelief.

"It's a special one, alright! I can see things from his point of view, and now I can see visions of him, too." Harry shot back defensively. "I didn't ask for this."

Inuyasha looked dubious, while Robin looked contemplative at this new development.

"Are we going to go then?" Inuyasha said, after a moment.

"Yeah... I suppose we should be heading back." Harry said quietly, and stood up. He reached into the magical bag Zelda had given him, shifting around for the control to teleport back to the ship.

"Are you leaving then?" Eriol's voice rang out slowly, quietly, and he stepped forward, smiling.

"Ye-yeah." Harry said, not quite sure how to deal with the blue haired boy.

"I am sorry for such news. Sometimes, it is better to not see the future at all, and let it come without prior knowledge." Eriol inclined his head. "Despite this, I wish you the best of fortune."

"Goodbye Eriol." Harry said, smiling slightly.

"Don't be gettin' yourselves killed or anythin'." Inuyasha grunted in annoyance, turning away.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Robin bowed deeply.

With a small smile shared amongst them, Harry, Inuyasha, and Robin disappeared in a flash of light.

"Goodbye..." Eriol said softly, and this voice picked up, gaining strength and volume, "I wish you three the best of luck on your journey!"

* * *

"Opening hatch doors... depressurizing interior." Gilliam announced, and Harry gave a slow, quiet sigh, releasing his grip on the controls. The trip back had been quiet and subdued, with nary a word spoken.

The Boy-Who-Lived stepped outside of the _Outlaw Star_ with his head down and his face set into an impassive look.

Behind him, Inuyasha was walking with his arms held loosely at his sides, more due to the fact that his shoulder was torn than any sort of relaxation.

Robin was putting on a mask of false cheer, just trying to push on and get the world centered again.

As his feet hit the soft grass just outside Hyrule Castle, however, a voice rang out.

"Harry. You've returned." Kurama's smooth voice was unaffected as he stepped forward, smiling slightly. His eyes drifted towards Inuyasha's shoulder and Robin's falsely cheerful face. "I see you have been through a lot in the past few days. Come inside and rest awhile. You have done enough for now."

Inuyasha grunted and Robin nodded, and they moved toward the gate.

Harry went to join them, but Kurama placed a hand on his shoulder. "Harry. There's something you should see." The fox demon said, his face and voice betraying nothing.

Perplexed, the Boy-Who-Lived nodded. "Alright. Lead the way."

Kurama took him into the castle, the same as with Inuyasha and Robin, but tugged him away, not towards the rooms and infirmary, but towards... the dining room?

"Uh... Kurama. I'm not really in the mood to eat-" before Harry could finish his statement, the fox demon swung the door open, and the Boy-Who-Lived's train of thought stopped cold.

"G-Ginny?"

The redhead looked up from her soup, the spoon suspended in mid air. She stared at him blankly. "I've been told that's my name. What's yours?"

* * *

Author's Notes

This chapter was reaching ridiculous lengths (8000 plus), so I cut it into two.

I've made an important change to the story. I've scrapped my plan to use the Shaman King world and replaced it with a different one. Why? Well, number one, I'm more familiar with the new world (no, I'm not telling), and two, it fits better with the story... I think.

Chapter 4 has been altered to tailor to this change. If any of you were looking forward to that world, I deeply apologize.

Secondly, I've deleted my Yahoo group. It's too much hassle and too little gain. I've set up a Live Journal- post comments there. I'll be posting progress reports if I get around to it.

Chapter 12 should be in a few days, since the massive chapter had been nearly complete.


	13. Chapter 12: Come What May

_"You say that I have no power? Perhaps you speak truly... But you say that Dreams have no power here? Tell me... what power would hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream of heaven?"_

_-Anonymous _

Chapter 12 Come What May

"My, my, you've really done a number on yourself." Washu hummed, grinning down at Inuyasha as he sat on the cot, his kimono and undershirt discarded, revealing the large gash on his shoulder.

The half demon glared at the pink haired genius. "What are you doing, anyway?" he had tried to simply head off to the room the Queen had given him when he arrived, but Washu had intercepted him, demanding to look him over.

"Well, I'm not a medical specialist, but I am a genius. And I'm taking samples of your blood. I've never encountered a half demon before, y'know." Washu grinned wider, and raised a strange needle-like object.

Inuyasha stared at him, his mind briefly remembering something Kagome said about these things-

And then Washu stabbed it into his arm.

The half demon gave off a loud yelp of pain, and reflexively jumped backwards, glaring at the pink haired genius. "What the Hell was that for!" he demanded angrily.

"Just needed a sample. And from the looks of it," Washu clucked her tongue and shook her head, "You've got a bunch of damaged nerve endings and muscles. That's pretty crippling for a human... in fact, if you weren't a half demon, it's a fair guess to say you'd be dead from blood loss already."

"Tch. I'm not as weak as a human." Inuyasha said gruffly. "And my arm'll be useable soon enough."

"I suppose you'd know, wouldn't you." Washu said airily, smiling brightly. She opened a cabinet, and pulled free a bottle. "This potion should help you heal faster."

The container was filled with a thick, blood red liquid and Inuyasha stared at it dubiously. "What's in it?" he asked suspiciously.

"Dunno." Washu shrugged. "The makers keep the ingredients pretty close to the vest, and I've been too busy to analyze it myself. Now drink up." She grinned and thrust the bottle in his face.

* * *

Harry felt as though he'd been punched in the gut. Leaning heavily against the wall, feeling the now returned exhaustion in himself, he managed a fake, sickly thing of a smile. "H-Harry. Harry Potter."

"Oh!" Ginny's eyes widened and she dropped her spoon, looking rather excited. "You're the boy who brought me here! Thank you!"

The words fell on ears only half listening. "No problem." Harry said weakly. Feeling sick and exhausted and just plain _tired_, he plastered a poorly acted grin. "I'd love to talk more, but I'm beat. Good night all." And with that, he closed the door and turned around sharply.

Kurama bit his lip and reached his hand out towards the Boy-Who-Lived. "Harry. Perhaps-"

"Not now." Harry said cuttingly, and his head turned slowly, eyes glistening with the sort of heartbreak only someone whose been beaten down so badly they can't even try anymore holds. "Please, Kurama. Not now."

Kurama nodded, looked at him pityingly. "I'm sorry Harry."

The Boy-Who-Lived didn't respond, and as he walked down the corridor, he looked much like a lost child.

* * *

"So he didn't take it very well." Zelda sighed, rubbing her temples tiredly as she sank into her now seldom used throne. "I thought as much."

"It's more than that. I believe he's... he's losing the will to fight. He has tasted the bitterness of battle, and the harshness that comes with making a choice." Kurama said quietly, leaning against the wall.

"Such is the way of the world. Why do the best of us suffer the most?" the Queen murmured pityingly, her voice thick and heavy with sorrow.

"He is strong... he will overcome." The fox demon assured her. "Even Hiei believes... as much as he attempts to hide it."

"But he has adversity ahead." Zelda replied slowly, her voice full of prophetic sureness. "Opposition, evil like nothing ever known is in his way. And at the end I fear he will face it alone."

"Then we will pave the way for him, until he is strong enough to meet that end." Kurama said passionately.

The Queen regarded him for a moment, and her mouth set into a line. "I know... but I wish we could do more."

Footsteps echoed in the hallway beyond the throne room, and both turned towards it.

"It seems we will have to place this discussion on hold, Kurama." Zelda said lightly, before raising her voice, staring straight at the newcomers, "Yes, Colonel Mustang? Is there something you and Lieutenant Hawkeye need?"

The black haired man nodded, back straight and shoulders squared. "Ma'am. The nearby villages have reported a large amount of Heartless moving throughout the fields. I request permission to deal with them." He said smoothly, but Zelda saw into the plea within.

The Queen smiled slightly. "I'm not your superior officer, Colonel." She reminded him. "But permission granted. Take as many volunteers as you think are necessary."

"Thank you." Mustang inclined his head respectfully, and left.

The blonde woman behind him, who hadn't spoken a word, turned sharply and followed him out.

"Now, back to our current situation with the Keybearer." Zelda bit her lip, and sighed. "I'm going to allow Anna to train him for a while. Perhaps we sent him out too early..."

Kurama balked slightly, barely regaining his composure. "Are you sure that's wise? The girl is... rather harsh." He said carefully, gauging his words and keeping his geniality as best he could.

"That sort of treatment might be just what he needs." The Queen replied solemnly. "Besides... the powers she has to offer to Harry are invaluable in the coming times. He will need all the skills any can offer."

"I will respect your wisdom, then." Kurama inclined his head, and turned to leave.

"Impa?" Zelda called out, turning her head towards the wall next to her throne. "Tell Miss Anna that she may do as she wishes."

The woman, who had been hiding in the shadows, made a single bow of respect and departed silently.

* * *

"Washu..." Ginny said slowly, looking at the pink haired genius intently.

The older girl turned towards her, placing down the sample of Inuyasha's blood. "Yes, Ginny? What is it?" Washu had taken a liking to the girl, and was deeply interested in her special condition.

"Who is Harry?" Ginny asked, biting her lip in apparent distress. "He seems familiar to me... but when I tried to talk to him, he said he had to go."

Washu sighed and cursed under her breath. She should have found Harry and informed him of the situation beforehand. Plastering a smile on her face, she said cheerily, "He's just tired, Ginny. He'll answer all your questions when he feels better."

Satisfied, the redhead thanked her and left, her gait slightly unsteady, a testament to the time she had spent asleep.

"Round and round the world spins... and it keeps getting darker." Washu murmured to herself. "Times like these I could use my old powers... times like these I wish you were still here, Tenchi."

* * *

Harry awoke sometime in the night, though from the sounds of bustle outside his room, it wasn't too late just yet. Not feeling like leaving, he sat himself up, propping the pillow against the headboard.

He lifted his hands up, inspecting them with his critical emerald eyes. There were small cuts and callouses decorating the tanned skin of his lined palm. "Useless." He murmured bitterly, letting them fall to his sides. "Useless."

What had he done? What great blows had he struck against the Dark Lord?

Nothing. He was still weak.

"Some hero." The Boy-Who-Lived chuckled darkly, a bitter light in his eyes.

There was a timid knock on his door. "Yes?" Harry called out, curious.

"Um... Mister Harry... I brought you some dinner." Ginny's voice was shaking and nervous, as though she were a little girl with a crush on him again.

Frowning, the Boy-Who-Lived was sorely tempted to send her away, but the response died in this throat and he sighed. "It's open."

The door opened slowly, and the redhead smiled timidly and she pushed it open with her back, holding a large tray of food unsteadily. Harry stood and grasped the plate, steadying her quickly and without thought.

Ginny looked up at him and smiled gratefully, setting the plate down on a study table near the bed.

"Erm... thank you." Harry said awkwardly. "But really, you didn't need to..."

"I insist." Ginny replied graciously, bowing slightly. She paused, and bit her lip tightly, the smile slipping away and leaving nothing but sorrow. "I... I'm sorry..."

Harry stared at her strangely, unsure of what she was saying. Without heed, Ginny continued, "I don't remember anything, I'm afraid." She apologized, a note of hysteria in her tone as her voice picked up. "I can't remember! _Nothing_! Not even my name, my parent's names, your name..."

Harry could listen no longer and, on pure instinct, did something he had never done before, with anyone- he grabbed Ginny tightly, encircling her with his arms and wrapping them around her, pressing her to his chest. Barely aware of what he was doing, he stroked her hair soothingly. "It's okay... it's okay." He murmured softly, into her ear. "I promise you I'll help you remember."

Ginny sniffled slightly, muffled by his clothes. "Thank you." She whispered softly, barely audible.

They stayed there for an unknown amount of time, every heartbeat ticking away as both their hearts began to beat as one.

A knock on his door caused Harry to start, and his head had just come up when Kurama's head poked in.

"Harry, I'm terribly sorry but-" the fox demon began, and then his mouth snapped shut as he saw what was going on. A mischievous, fox-like grin crossed his face and Harry swore he heard a snicker. "Forgive me for interrupting." He apologized, only the barest hint of smugness in his tone.

The two broke apart quickly, Harry feeling his face hot and he was torn between laughing and wanting to hide. "No... it was nothing." Harry said quickly, looking straight at the other boy and praying his cheeks weren't red.

"Well, good. Harry, the Queen needs to see you about something important. If you would, please." Kurama said, stepping lightly away from the door and gesturing out.

"I'm afraid the meal will have to go a bit cold, Ginny." Harry apologized softly, smiling gently at her. "But thank you."

* * *

"Hm... I see your problem with Miss Ginny has faded quite quickly." Kurama quipped, nearly the moment they were in the hallway.

"Shut it Kurama." Harry gritted out, annoyed, staring straight forward determinedly.

Another faint snicker from the fox demon was heard as they turned the corner, heading straight for the meeting room.

With no more words passed between them, the two boys stepped out of the hallway and into the large meeting chamber, where Zelda sat, alone at the massive wooden table.

"Harry. I apologize for calling you here so suddenly, but this is important." The Queen said politely, bowing her head slightly.

"It's alright." The Boy-Who-Lived said slowly, shooting Kurama a deadly glare, as if to say 'don't say a word'. "What's up?"

"Since you left... there have been a small upsurge in refugees." At Harry's crestfallen look, Zelda added swiftly, "But they've been doing fine. And a few have expressed an interest in passing on skills that may prove useful to you and your cause."

Harry looked at her questioningly.

"Tomorrow, Kurama will take you to Kakariko village. There, your new trainer will be teaching you some new skills that will prove invaluable." The Queen instructed. "I'm afraid you will have to go alone though."

"How long will this take?" Harry asked quietly.

"I don't know. In her words... 'As long as it takes to get this wimp into shape'." Zelda quoted, coughing and smiling slightly at the choice of words.

"Alright... tomorrow then." The Boy-Who-Lived murmured. "Good night."

* * *

Inuyasha frowned, leaning against the courtyard window, feeling the open breeze dance across the bridge of his nose, glaring up defiantly at the empty, moonless sky. Being human, being this weak was bad enough... but now, he was in a completely alien world, alone.

It hit home just how alone he really was, without Kagome, without Miroku, without Sango, without Shippo, without anyone and everyone he had known throughout his whole life. He was more alone than he had ever been.

The idea was a hollow wound in his side, eating away at his soul.

"Kagome..." the now mortal Inuyasha murmured softly, feeling the wind carry his words away.

"Inuyasha! Is that you?"

Cursing his lack of demon powers, Inuyasha turned, glaring slightly at the obviously confused Harry Potter.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked, his eyes running over the now raven black hair and violet eyes of Inuyasha's human form.

"... none of your business." Inuyasha grunted. "Why are you wandering around?"

"I just got out of a meeting with Zelda." The Boy-Who-Lived replied easily. "We'll have to wait a few days to go to the next world, since someone's asked to train me."

"Do what you want." Inuyasha said gruffly. "It's not like I can go anywhere for at least another day with my arm like this." Still, there was a note of disappointed wistfulness in his tone, and Harry remembered that the other boy was looking for someone.

"I promise I'll help you find whoever it is you lost." Harry swore softly, looking the mortal dead in the eye with shining determination. "You're helping me... I'll help you."

Inuyasha looked away, unable to meet those eyes, once again. "... do what you like." He said indifferently.

"Well, I've got dinner waiting for me. I'll see you in a couple days." Harry said in lieu of goodbye, and smiled slightly, and left.

As the Keybearer turned the corner, Inuyasha murmured softly, "Thanks."

* * *

Robin wandered through Castletown, alone. Inuyasha had all but disappeared, Harry was off training, and she was left alone.

A few children laughed and ran past her, chasing after one another with innocent glee, and the witch couldn't help but smile.

"Did ya hear? There's a guy organizing people to attack the Heartless." An elderly man gossiped, leaning towards his equally aged friend.

"Humph. Sounds like the sort of impetuous thing youngsters like to do." The other huffed.

Curious, Robin leaned over and asked, "Where is this man?"

The two shot her strange looks, before the first one replied, "In the center of town, missy."

Thanking them, she made her way through toward a large crowd of people, crowding about the figure of a blue clad, black haired man, and the golden haired woman in the same uniform, standing behind him.

"Please, if you have any unusual powers, your aid would be appreciated." The man said, his voice full of determined charisma. "But if you have family, friends, a loved one, remember that these are the Heartless. They are more dangerous than any common enemy."

A few murmurs swept through the crowd, and a few shouts on the affirmative.

Biting her lip, and remembering that Harry would be gone for a few days, Robin wavered.

"But they took my son!" an elderly woman sobbed. "Please... let me fight!"

_They took Amon_, she remembered, remembered him fighting to his last breath to defend her.

"I'm sorry." The man replied slowly, sorrow etched on his hard, pale features. "But offworlders have more power, and-"

"I'll go." Robin shouted, her voice ringing out, tearing apart the noises of the crowd.

The man turned towards her, gauging her with careful eyes. Recognizing something in her, he nodded. "If you insist."

* * *

"So who's this person I'm going to be talking to?" Harry asked, keeping a careful eye out for random Heartless. "The Queen said 'she'."

Kurama too, seemed mostly occupied with watching for Heartless, not turning when he responded carefully. "I was told not to say a word... she prefers to make an impression herself."

The village of Kakariko was small but now, probably due to the dangerous climate, heavily armed, with obvious offworlders walking about, yet they seemed to fit perfectly alongside everyone else.

"Oh, not again!" a woman shrieked, slapping her forehead as a pen full of chickens opened and the fowls flew off.

Flew?

Harry did a double take, staring for a moment, before Kurama's urging tugged him onward.

The fox demon led him through the village and into-

"A graveyard?" the Boy-Who-Lived murmured, stopping just outside of the high, spiked fence. He hadn't set foot in a graveyard since...

Since Cedric. Since Voldemort's rebirth.

"Harry? Is something wrong?" Kurama asked softly.

"... it's nothing." Harry said, trying his best to smile. _It's in the past._

"Ah... and here is your new master." Kurama said, staring up at the center of the graveyard.

Harry followed the fox demon's eyes towards a small, slim figure.

"That's her!" the Boy-Who-Lived demanded, pointing towards a young blonde girl in a wavy black dress that was sleeveless, and a rosary of teal beads encircled around her neck, hanging against her arm, with part of it wrapped around her wrist. Her shockingly red bandanna was massive, running down her back even as it completely encompassed her head, all but covering her blonde hair. Cold black eyes gauged him.

"It's rude to point." She said, rolling her eyes.

"She's just a kid!" Harry shouted.

"I could say the same about you." She replied slowly, glaring at him defiantly, before turning towards Kurama. "Are you sure he's the one?"

Taken aback and stung by the insult, Harry snarled, "I am the Keybearer!" he moved his hand to call the Keyblade.

"Calm down, Harry." Kurama said slowly, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let us try to start again. Harry, this is Anna Kyoyama. Anna, this is Harry Potter."

"We've got a lot of work to do." Anna said coldly, turning away, so that only one of her black eyes could be seen as she glared at him. "First, run a hundred laps around the graveyard. That should be easy enough."

"WHAT!"

Kurama sighed. "I hope Zelda was right about this..."

* * *

Harry fell down onto his back, collapsing with a relieved groan as sweat fell off of him like a heavy rain, his clothes clinging to him, as though they too were exhausted.

"... a hundred... laps... she's... worse than Wood." The Boy-Who-Lived complained tiredly, remembering that he once thought Oliver Wood, his old Quiddtich Captain had insane training methods.

"Now that you've warmed up," Anna said, sitting atop the same gravestone she had sat upon when he began running, "We can move on to part two." She leapt off of the stone, and kicked it, causing it to move backwards, revealing a hole in the ground

Curious, Harry moved towards it, peeking inside inquisitively, seeing a long, deep hole with nothing but darkness. "What's in there?" he asked, turning towards the blonde.

Instead of answering, Anna kicked him inside the grave.

* * *

Robin shifted, looking around herself. There was a variety of people, old and young, dressed plainly and dressed strangely. Some carried weapons, some didn't.

"Alright. I'd like to first off thank you all for coming. Some of you I've met, some I haven't. To those I haven't, my name is Colonel Roy Mustang." The black haired man said, inclining his head. With a flourish of his hand, he gestured behind him, towards a stern looking blonde woman behind him.

They were both wearing the same uniform, navy blue, thick shirts and pants. The man was decorated a bit more heavily than the woman, and Robin saw a chain extending from his pocket, looped to his belt, like a pocketwatch. His hands were gloved in white, and there was some marking made in red on them.

"This is my second in command, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. I, and then she, will be in command of this operation." The Colonel, for just a moment, looked tired, but it passed quickly. "I want all of you to prepare. In a few hours, we will march into Hyrule Field, where a large gathering of Heartless have been spotted to the south."

Mustang searched each face, as if looking for something.

"Thank you for choosing to do this. Good luck... and tomorrow, I hope that I can say the same to all of you at the end of the day."

Robin, however, saw beyond that, and saw that this man was prepared for what lay ahead, in a way that only seasoned military could.

A perception Amon had held as well.

* * *

_I'm going to KILL that bitch when I get out! _Harry thought angrily, as he felt wind and shadows push past him as he fell further into the earth.

Then... he did what all things falling do.

He hit the ground.

Hard.

Listening to the explosive cursing coming from the grave, Kurama frowned, shooting Anna a curious glare. "Just what were you thinking? He might have broken something!" he reprimanded.

"He didn't." Anna responded coldly. With slow, careful movements, she grasped a plain, unadorned sword and tossed it down. Looking down into the grave and crossing her arms, she said, "Use this against your opponent."

Harry hurled himself out of the way, letting the blade clatter to the floor. He shot Anna an angry glare. "Why can't I use the Keyblade?"

"This will make it harder for you to focus." Anna replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "So that when you do use the Keyblade, it'll be easier. Now..." she lifted the beads tied around her arm, and closed her eyes.

Kurama felt it, a subtle tugging on the spirit realm, but so strong and so demanding that no one could escape its grasp.

_This is her power_, the fox demon realized. _To call spirits, no matter where they are._

Anna's eyes snapped open. "It's done." She murmured.

Harry heard the blonde's voice drift down. "What's done?" he demanded, looking up... but then a chill in the air froze him in place.

Slowly, the Boy-Who-Lived turned around.

Floating, just above the ground, was a creature wearing a ragged tan cloak and black hood, obscuring two eerie, empty blue eyes. It had no feet, and no normal features could be seen, completely covered as it was. In one cloth covered hand it wielded a long, wicked looking scythe.

Harry swallowed nervously.

Anna looked down at him emotionlessly. "The people here call it a Grand Poe. Defeat him, and escape this grave. This is part two of your training."

The scythe clicked in the shadows like a hungry mandible. Silently, the Grand Poe was suddenly in front of him, weapon upraised.

With a gasp, Harry hurled himself backwards, tumbling end over end until his back hit the sword. Quickly, he turned and grabbed it in a blind panic, spinning aside and swinging.

The sword met the scythe with a loud, angry snap of sparks and sound, and Harry used the force of the swing to break the block, trying to get another, clearer strike.

Effortlessly, the Grand Poe pulled aside in a blink, and then closed the gap as Harry's momentum spun him away, scythe upraised once more. Gritting his teeth, the Boy-Who-Lived spun faster, blocking the scythe again in a burst of sparks that lit the grave.

Once more, the Grand Poe disappeared with insane speed.

Harry cursed under his breath, and settled to wait for the next attack, breathing harshly, every breath hard and heavy.

* * *

"It's too fast for him." Kurama murmured, looking at Anna curiously as he arched his eyebrow. "You do know you can't get him killed, right?" he said dryly.

"Trust me, he needs this. Those guys are strong... strong enough to beat Yo-" Anna's mouth snapped shut and she looked away.

Wisely, Kurama did not press the subject. "So, what is it you're trying to teach him?"

"He's exhausted. That means he'll be able to unconsciously draw upon his spirit for power to improve his reaction, speed, and strength. That should help him win this fight." Anna replied coolly.

Kurama was impressed, but deigned not to show it. "Let's hope Harry's as quick as you think, then."

* * *

Harry ducked aside the scythe as it tore through the air, but winced as he was a bit too slow, receiving the tip of the blade as it began scraping his forehead. Immediately, it began to bleed profusely.

The Boy-Who-Lived concentrated as he hurled himself backwards, trying to weave his power and channel it into the wound, lest it begin to blind him. He felt the power, but it was disorganized, lacking a nexus point to gather at.

Without the Keyblade, Harry realized, he couldn't channel a Cure spell.

"Bugger." He muttered, blocking the Grand Poe's swing, causing him to be pitched backwards a few steps, gritting his teeth. Desperation began setting in, an almost blind panic. His vision turned red, courtesy of his blood.

Blinking furiously, the Boy-Who-Lived shut his eye, hard.

The Grand Poe came at him mercilessly, weaving its scythe again and again, down and down, each time Harry narrowly avoided or blocked the attacks, feeling himself losing his control.

_Is this... Is this how I'm going to die?_

The ghost's scythe came down hard, cutting deep into his arm, blood welling up and flowing freely, warm and slick against his hands.

_Without- Without accomplishing anything?_

The blade was knocked out of his hands with a vicious swing, the harsh blow resonating throughout his arm, freezing him in place.

The Grand Poe raised its scythe.

_Not yet._

The blade whistled through the air, tearing apart the silence of the grave.

_NOT YET!_

A light shone behind Harry's eyes, his entire body glowing with a faint white light.

Dust kicked up in a violent miniature storm as the scythe came down on nothing but air.

Kurama sucked in a breath. Anna looked impassive.

Harry Potter stood, five feet away, head down, shoulders slumped and arms a foot above the floor. "What is this power?' he murmured softly, placing a hand on his chest, the scratches and cuts fading away as he spoke. "It's... so warm..."

The Grand Poe moved again at its same incredible speed, scythe raised.

But to Harry, it suddenly seemed much slower, so much easier to read. He lifted his head up, and his emerald eyes were hard as diamond. Twisting his body, he avoided the downward blow, and, cocking his fist, punched the Grand Poe, hard.

A blow like that shouldn't have done much to a ghost of this level, instead, it sent it crashing backwards, kicking up dust and dirt as it fell.

A soft clink brought his attention to the discarded sword at his feet. With a grim, mirthless smile on his face, he picked it up.

"I won't. I won't be defeated." His voice was unquestionable, like Destiny.

The Grand Poe raised itself up, and lunged forward, its empty blue eyes shining in the shadows of the grave as the scythe came down, hard.

"YOU'RE TOO SLOW!" Harry roared, and brought his own sword down, slicing the Grand Poe and its scythe apart, right between its eyes.

The halves of the Grand Poe fell apart, dissipating into nothing but black smoke.

* * *

Inuyasha crossed his arms, doing his best not to move too much, lest his injury pain him again. It was a little stiff and, most likely, if he tried using his claws or the Tetsusaiga, it wouldn't be very strong.

He couldn't sense, nor smell Harry's scent other than a few day old ones, and Robin's trailed out into the city.

Not that he was feeling alone, because he wasn't.

His feet were taking him in a sort of roundabout, bored walk around the castle, into the gardens where he found he was a bit more at peace than inside the thick stone walls.

"Excuse me? Do you know where Harry is?"

A girl with fiery red hair popped into his vision, and Inuyasha cursed his lapse of concentration as he leapt backwards. "Don't do that!"

"Oh... I'm sorry, mister." The girl apologized meekly, bowing her head. "I was just wondering if you knew where Harry was. His name's Harry. Harry Potter."

"Last I heard he was off to do some training." Inuyasha replied carelessly, about to cross his arms behind his head and flinching as he felt a surge of pain. _Damn... it still hurts._

"Are you Harry's friend?" the girl questioned, looking at him curiously, her eyes lingering on his ears for more time than the half demon cared for.

"I guess." Inuyasha shrugged. He wasn't all that great with friendship.

"Please... when you see him, tell him I'm sorry for crying like that earlier." The girl paused, and blushed slightly as she blurted out, "Oh, how rude of me! I'm sorry... my name's Ginny. Ginny Weasley."

"Why were you crying?" Inuyasha asked, before he could stop himself. God, he hated it when women cried.

Ginny smiled brightly, but there was just the slightest hint of tears in her eyes as she spoke. "Oh, it's not important. Could you tell him that?"

"Er... sure." Inuyasha grunted, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you!" Ginny said, bowing her head and smiling at him.

"Hey, don't go acting like this is some big favor!" Inuyasha said irritably, looking away with a haughty sniff. "Geez..."

Still smiling, Ginny skipped off, her footsteps rebounding across the corridor as she passed him, waving. "Goodbye!"

Inuyasha rubbed his head, puzzled as he watched the girl run off. "What the heck was that about?"

* * *

Robin marched alongside the others, various conversations going on, about weather, about powers, about the Heartless. She participated in none, feeling quite strange to have joined up with a band of warriors without a second thought.

Then again, isn't that what she had done with Harry and Inuyasha? Joined them without thinking?

"You look a little too young to be going out to fight. And from the looks of it, you haven't got any weapons." A deep, masculine voice said, bemused from behind her.

Turning, Robin blinked as she came face to face with the Colonel. "Uh... hello, Colonel Mustang." She greeted, inclining her head respectfully.

"No need to be so formal." He said, waving his gloved hand dismissively. "So tell me... what's your power? I've seen a lot of crazy things since I got to this place, so I won't be surprised."

"Fire."

Mustang blinked, before an ironic smile crossed his face. "You too, huh?" he said gently, sympathy on his face. "It's a hard thing to control... Fire."

"How do you use it?" Robin asked curiously.

"These gloves." The Colonel replied, motioning to one hand, and turning it so the back of it was visible. On it was an intricate, blood red circle. "I use them to create a spark, and then transmute the air so that it makes an explosion."

"You can... change the air?" Robin whispered, amazed. "That's... incredible."

"Not really. It's just a matter of chemistry." Mustang said, shaking his head. "How about you?"

"It... it just... appears when I will it." The witch said quietly, her fingers fiddling with her dress. She remembered... she remembered fires springing up when she was angry, or sad, when she was furious or scared...

"That must have been tough. Not being able to control it." Mustang said, correctly reading her emotions. "Fire is so destructive... wouldn't you agree? All it does is bring pain and devastation."

Robin frowned. It was true... she had only used her powers to hunt witches before, to burn them alive for their sins against God and Humanity. In that way, she had been nothing but a child playing with fire.

Still... that wasn't her power's fault. She was the one using it. "But... but fire can bring help, too. It lights the way, helps keep the darkness from spreading. It can keep people from dying." Robin said quietly. "I think... I think its all just a matter of how you use it."

Mustang looked at her for a moment, and chuckled slightly as he turned away.

"What an idea."

The blonde woman who had been standing next to him earlier stepped crisply to his side. "Colonel. We've spotted them."

Mustang had a grim, humorless smile on his face as he turned away from Robin. "Thank you, Lieutenant." He cocked his head so that one of his eyes met hers. "Miss..."

"Robin. Robin Sena." The witch said quietly.

"Well, Miss Robin. For now, it seems that we must use Fire in the only way we know how." Mustang said humorlessly, and walked away.

* * *

"Now... it's time for part three." Anna said calmly, not the least bit perturbed as Harry jumped up the entire depth of the grave to land in front of her, glaring indignantly.

"Wait a bloody minute!" Harry snarled, brushing himself off with his free hand (the other holding the sword). "You kicked me in there!" he shouted irritably, pointing down with violent movements towards the hole he climbed out of.

"So I did. What are you going to do about it?" Anna asked, crossing her arms and giving him a glare, the likes of which not even Professor Snape had been capable of.

"Now then, as I was saying..." Anna waved her hand, and suddenly a silver haired man in a black kimono and with a white cloak and red shoulder guards over the cloth appeared on top of a gravestone. He was a samurai, from the looks of his two sheathed blades at his waist.

"This is an old spirit I knew on my world, Amidamaru. Defeat him, and you will have completed your training." Anna said plainly. "Normally, I wouldn't move this fast, but we are pressed for time."

Harry, despite himself, grinned. With the strength he had gained, there was no way he'd lose.

"Oh, and one more thing." Suddenly, Anna flung the teal beads that were wrapped around her hand, and immediately, they wrapped around the Boy-Who-Lived's throat and torso, but still leaving his arms with most of their mobility.

"What the-" suddenly, an incredible shock ran through his body, like being struck with lightning, and Harry crashed to one knee, breathing hard.

"What... did you just do?" Harry demanded breathlessly, trying his best to muster up a glare through the pain.

"These beads will drain away at your spiritual energy, though I've heard your world calls it 'magic'." Anna seemed to scoff at the term 'magic'. "Think it'll be easy to defeat Amidamaru now?"

"You... bloody sadist..." Harry complained, rising to his feet, feeling his body suddenly twice as heavy. The incredible power he had felt earlier had diminished substantially.

Anna smirked coldly.

"Begin."

* * *

"Long distance unit! Open fire!" Mustang roared, throwing his hand forward. "Those without ranged attacks, hang back and hold the line!"

Lightning bolts, bullets, and a rainbow of different colored energy blasts flew forward, tearing into the large, writhing mass of Heartless that came charging across the field.

Robin watched as the other refugees unleashed their righteous fury down upon the enemy that had stolen their homes, before deciding it was time to fight as well.

_Well... time to see how much of my Craft I've regained._

Robin narrowed her eyes and a large, meter length fireball erupted, encompassing the line of Heartless, incinerating a number of them with relative ease, leaving a trail of blackened earth and smoky mist.

Mustang caught her eye for a single moment, before he snapped his fingers. The witch barely caught the spark on those gloves before a thunderous explosion rocked the area, and a crater where a score of Heartless once stood was smoking in the distance.

Feeling a rare bit of power envy, Robin wondered if it was possible to mimic that technique. Incineration had always been her strategy before... but against the Heartless, there had to be more ways to crush an opponent.

A Soldier Heartless leapt into the air, avoiding the energy blasts that were directed toward it.

Robin bit down hard on her lip in concentration, and a blazing inferno stopped the creature dead in its tracks, until it was reduced to nothing but drifting smoke.

Once again, she met Colonel Mustang's eyes for a brief moment, and conveyed her message to his understanding obsidian eyes.

_For now... for now, I have to use this Fire to destroy. But there has to be more to it than that._

_There **has **to be.

* * *

_

Before Harry could even blink, Amidamaru was moving like quicksilver, his katana nothing more than thin flashes of light as the samurai charged the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry swung his sword out in an attempt to block, wincing as he felt his muscles strain and quiver with effort, the magic pulsing sluggishly in his body. Amidamaru slammed his katana down, forcing Harry backwards as sparks and a raucous clap snapped through the air.

_I need... I need more power!_ Digging deep, Harry tapped into the magicks in his soul, pulling as much of it as possible-

And screamed, raw and hoarse as he felt another surge of agonizing lightning tear through his body, sapping that power in seconds.

The Boy-Who-Lived stumbled backwards as he narrowly blocked through the haze of pain, feeling the dirt giving way beneath his feet as he tried, vainly, to push the samurai backwards.

His feet continued to give way, and Harry, in desperation, sent a carefully concentrated amount of magic into his legs, trying with all his might not to activate the beads again with a large surge of power.

Luckily, it seemed his theory had worked, and the Boy-Who-Lived kicked the ground with all his might, propelling himself into the air and away from his opponent.

"I get it..." Kurama murmured, looking approvingly towards Anna. "Those beads are meant to restrain him from using too much power." The tone of his voice no longer hid the respect that this girl richly deserved.

"That dumbass was leaking power like a faucet on full blast." Anna replied slowly, easily and without a single change in expression as she watched. "He's wasting too much of it."

Harry spun aside as Amidamaru came down hard, feeling the wind whip by as he gave a powerful lunge forward, thrusting the sword forward.

Amidamaru parried the blow with astonishing speed, and the sound of the deflection had barely passed when the samurai charged, going in for a powerful forward thrust.

Sending another controlled burst of power into his legs, the Boy-Who-Lived jumped with a powerful, swift movement, leaving a whirl of dust in his wake as he reached the apex of the jump.

With a loud shout, Harry came down hard, swinging the sword with all his might, the power surge almost unconsciously being sent now.

Amidamaru rapidly pulled backwards, managing a small distance away from the Boy-Who-Lived before he collided with the ground, creating a large cloud of dust and debris.

The samurai carefully clutched the hilt of the katana, watching every shadow within the miasma of dust and debris.

All of a sudden, rapid footsteps echoed out of the cloud, and then, like a vengeful spirit rising from the mist, Harry charged forward, blade at the ready.

Amidamaru gave a low grunt as he swung the katana, meeting the Boy-Who-Lived's attack head on.

In a loud, angry clap of applause as the swords collided, the battle ended.

* * *

Robin wandered through the now almost silent battlefield in the wake of the ferocious, but rather quick battle with the Heartless, who had finally been annihilated for the moment. She put her glasses away, into a pocket in her coat, barely noting they were covered with soot.

No battle, even with victory in hand, had not been without consequences.

The area had been decimated, in no small part to the incredible powers that were wielded mostly by the refugees, and was now little more than a wasteland that would take months, if not years, to recover. And that was not even counting the cost in human terms...

Somehow, no one had been killed in this battle, something that Robin was duly thankful for. Still, there were a large number of wounded, many of which who might need intensive care for a long while.

Feeling helpless, she knelt down next to a blue haired girl who moaned slightly, leaning against one of the trees which had survived the battle. "Are you okay?" Robin asked quietly.

The blue haired girl had soft blue eyes and was wearing an ornate ivory armor over her chest with gold trimmings and blue inset jewels, and matching boots and gauntlets. Underneath was an out of place school uniform, predictably in a sapphire color as well.

However, what disturbed Robin was the deep, growing patch of red against her side, that was staining the uniform.

Blearily, the girl looked at her with pained blue eyes. "It's just a scratch." The girl murmured softly. "Thanks for the concern. I'm Umi Ryuzaki."

"Robin Sena." The witch said softly. "Hang in there, okay?"

Umi nodded weakly, her head lolling to one side. "Sure..." she whispered softly, but whimpered as her face twisted into a pained grimace.

Robin bit her lip tightly, looking down at her hands. They could devastate this once beautiful plains, but they couldn't save the life of a single girl, probably the same age as her.

_Please... let me do **something, anything!**_ Robin begged, whether to God, to her power, or to whatever guardian angel was listening at the moment, it didn't matter.

Slowly, Robin placed her hands against the bleeding wound gently, a quiet, lone light in her eyes. A gentle indigo light began to shine from Umi's injured side, lighting the clearing with its single bright spark, full of the fires of life.

Umi opened her eyes, disbelief etched across her face. "The pain... its gone..." she whispered, her ocean deep blue eyes glistening as she looked into Robin's emerald eyes. "Thank you... thank you so much..."

Robin decided not to question this new power, and stood as she smiled back gently.

There were more people who needed healing.

* * *

There was silence, predictably. Followed by a whirring, humming noise as metal spun through the air at high speeds.

And lastly, a soft crunch as Amidamaru's katana bit into the ground hard as it finally landed, having been knocked free from its wielder's grasp by the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Well... he's going to be a great swordsman one day, I'll tell you that." Amidamaru breathed, thankful he was already a ghost.

"Indeed... he grows by leaps and bounds every time I see him." Kurama agreed softly, watching the Boy-Who-Lived with amusement. "Should we let him continue like that?" he asked, looking towards the blonde girl.

"He did pretty well, for an amateur. We can start again tomorrow." Anna said indifferently, but there was the tiniest of curls in her lip. "I still have permission to train him for a few more days."

Kurama smiled and shook his head, still looking at the Keybearer.

"You're a very interesting young man, Harry Potter." And despite his normally serene nature, the fox demon laughed.

Because the Boy-Who-Lived, utterly exhausted by the day's training, had fallen asleep with his sword plunged into the ground, resting his head against the cool metal, light snores coming from his sleeping face.

* * *

Author's Notes

I'm a lot more satisfied with these split chapters. They make the story flow a bit better, wouldn't you agree?

I made up the Grand Poe. Since none of the Poes I could think up fit, why not make one?

I'll try to have the next chapter up quicker. It'll be fun battles from here on in people, because the plot is mostly set up.

Harry and Robin have some new powers now, and boy, they'll going to need them against the next opponent. Trust me, this one ain't gonna be nearly as easy as the last fight. Inuyasha didn't get as much coverage as I thought he might, but I'll make up for it next chapter.

New Anime cameos: Shaman King, Full Metal Alchemist,Magic Knight Rayearth.


	14. Chapter 13: Nil Desperandum

"_To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest"_

_-Anonymous _

Chapter 13 Nil Desperandum

"Where is he? They said he'd be ready to leave by today." Inuyasha grumbled, craning his neck, looking bored as his eyes scanned the lush expanse of open grassland from his position in the branches of the largest tree in the area. He wore his usual fire rat kimono and pants, and the Tetsusaiga was secure against his hip.

"He's probably running a little late, that's all." Robin said serenely, leaning against the same tree, eyes closed as she continued savoring the cool shade provided.

Her usual crimson trench coat swished gently in the breeze, but she had traded the heavy, restricting black dress for a dark crimson, almost black blouse with long sleeves and matching pants. Her crucifix remained against her chest, twinkling whenever the sun caught it just right, her burnt orange hair up in pigtails.

Inuyasha grunted, closing his eyes and resting them, just for a moment. His shoulder had recovered within a day or so, and now he was impatient to return to traveling to other worlds.

The breeze tickled his nose, and the half demon's eyes snapped open.

Robin, despite her lack of any enhanced senses, felt the presence that approached them, and opened her eyes slowly, smiling slightly.

Though the figure approaching them had his face covered in the shadows of a the hood of a tanned, newly made traveling cloak, there was no mistaking the emerald eyes beneath. The cloak drifted slightly, and allowed a peek into what lay beneath.

The emerald tunic and rustic brown pants he had worn before were discarded now, in favor of a different, more modern look.

Now the Boy-Who-Lived wore a midnight black vest lined with white, sleeved and with a white hood, a long silver zipper running across both ends. It was left unzipped, and remained open, exposing what he wore on his chest. Beneath it was a sleeveless black shirt and sharp looking, not too tight pants of the same color.

The pants were held up by a single lengthy and thick white sash, which held up the small magic bag that Zelda had given him tight against his back. It was tied at the center of his pants, just below the vest.

His shoes looked like a cross between loafers and boots, sturdy but not too difficult to put on. To top it off, Harry was now wearing fingerless black gloves, presumably to protect his hands from being blistered while wielding the Keyblade.

Together with the long beige cloak, it made for quite the appearance.

"What's with the change of clothes?" Inuyasha asked bluntly, leaping down from the tree, his silver hair reflecting the light of the sun.

Harry shrugged, smiling slightly in the morning sun. "I wore out the tunic while I was training. Washu made this for me, of the same materials as my old stuff. She said it looked _cool._" The way he said it, he didn't mind being called cool at all.

Inuyasha stared for a moment. "..."

Robin giggled. It was nice to see him acting at least a little like a normal teenager for once.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Harry grinned impishly. "Let's go do that hero thing." His voice was refreshed, confident, and eager. Like he could take on the world.

"Oi. Harry." Inuyasha said, calling the Boy-Who-Lived's attention to him. "There was a girl... Ginny, I think. She said to tell you she was sorry for crying earlier." With a smug expression on his face, the half demon arched a silver eyebrow. "What did you do to make her cry, exactly?"

Robin's interest was peaked, and she leaned forward with a mischievous expression on her normally serene face as well. "Harry, what was that? You made a girl cry? What a bad boy you are!" the witch teased, smirking.

Flushing, his aura of confidence dissipating, the Boy-Who-Lived looked downwards, scuffing his shoes against the grass. "None of your business." He grumbled sullenly. "Are we going to stand here jawing, or are we going to do this?"

Grinning, Inuyasha and Robin agreed, but from their looks, the matter wasn't dead yet.

* * *

"Harry? Harry?" Ginny called out, walking through the courtyard of Hyrule's Castle. Frowning she wrung the sides of her dress with her hands. "I guess he already left..."

Ginny turned back to the castle, disappointed.

"Hey, Ginny!" Washu's irrepressibly cheerful voice called out, and the redhead looked up to see the pink haired genius leaning out a window, waving. "Would you mind doing me a big favor? Could you head into town, and ask a man named Kisuke Urahara if the item is ready yet, and if it is, could you bring it back? He's in a shop called the Urahara Shoten!"

Ginny smiled and nodded, waving back. "Sure!"

Washu grinned, and suddenly there was a loud jingling in the air as she hurled a small brown draw string bag down toward Ginny. "Take this. Go buy something nice for yourself."

Ginny looked like she would protest, but Washu forestalled the attempt as she shook her head and shouted loudly, "Just take it, Ginny. You can make it a little sight seeing trip. I know you've been bored, cooped up in here all day."

"Thank you." Ginny said gratefully, bowing her head. "I don't know how to repay your kindness.

Washu shook her head. "No need to be so formal. We're friends, aren't we?" she yelled down cheerily, smiling widely.

Ginny looked delightedly incredulous, and smiled brightly, nodding once. "Yes!"

"Gillium, scan for open doorways." Harry said slowly, getting the hang of piloting the _Outlaw Star_ in this second run.

"Nearest one can be reached in approximately one hour." The AI reported cheerily. "Would you like me to set a course?"

"Yes, thank you." The Boy-Who-Lived sighed, releasing the controls. "I'll let you take over the ship, Gillium. Take us there with all speed."

"Understood." Gillium chimed.

Harry breathed slowly, relaxing himself as he sank into the pilot's chair. His mouth felt slightly dry, and he licked his lips. Wondering if he had a canteen or a bottle of water in his bag, Harry began to dig inside the magical bag at his waist.

His fingers didn't hit the water he wanted; instead, they found a small, oddly roundly shaped object that he didn't remember putting there.

Frowning in puzzlement, Harry pulled the object free, studying it intently. The object was oval shaped save for the tube-portion that stuck out of one side, obviously a mouth piece. It had a line of holes going straight across its emerald body.

"What's that?" Inuyasha drawled, bored.

"The Queen gave this to me." Harry murmured softly, turning the object in his hands again and again. "I think it's called an ocarina."

"What're you supposed to do with that?" Inuyasha questioned, rolling his eyes. "It looks pretty useless."

"It's an instrument, Inuyasha." Robin said cheerily, rolling her own eyes as she chuckled. "Not a weapon."

"Well what good is it to us, then?" the half demon asked bluntly, crossing his arms behind his head.

"None... but that doesn't mean it's useless." Harry said softly, and put the mouthpiece to his lips, placing his fingers over the holes.

"Do you even know how to play that?" Inuyasha asked rudely, staring intently.

Harry shook his head slowly, but simply closed his eyes, deigning to give it a try as he blew gently, placing a finger to cover one hole, then another, and so forth.

Slowly, the music tinkled out and filled with bridge with its life.

Though the notes were awkward and a bit discordant, they seemed to sooth the traveler's nerves as they continued onward, towards the next battle.

* * *

"Urahara Shoten... Urahara Shoten..." Ginny mumbled, scanning the buildings of Castletown in an effort to locate the shop. Unlike other offworlders, people rarely gave the redhead anything more than a passing glance, mostly because she didn't look or dress differently than any of the natives.

She was quite happy to be outside of the castle- most of the time, she just helped around with odd jobs that the maids needed helped with, or listen to Washu discuss some new invention or idea she had.

"Ah! The Urahara Shoten!" Ginny exclaimed, noticing a rather different looking shop at the far end of an alley. Unlike other buildings in Castletown, this one was made of cement, not wood, with a large glass pane with a door in the center as the entrance. At the top was large, bold sign- _Urahara Shoten. _

Playing in front of the store were two children, a loud redheaded boy swinging a broom back and forth and yelling, "Home run!", and a small, frail looking black haired girl whose hair reminded her of a cockroach for some reason, and was seemingly trying to get the boy to do something.

She approached them, smiling slightly. "Excuse me... can you tell me where Kisuke Urahara is?"

The redheaded boy looked at her, annoyed, but, after a moment, turned back toward the shop and placed his hands over his mouth. "BOSS! There's a lady out here to see you!"

"A lady... well, tell her to come on in, Jinta." A musical, airy voice called out.

Jinta jerked his head toward the store. "The boss is waiting for you inside." He said bluntly, and resumed swinging his broom about.

The black haired girl frowned, and shyly, quietly said, "Jinta... Tessai will be mad if you don't sweep..."

"Aw, shut up Ururu!" Jinta scowled, and proceeded to rub the broom on top of her pigtailed head, causing the small girl to squeal out in pain.

Ginny frowned, and grabbed the broom handle tightly, forcing Jinta to stop. "Hey. Leave her alone." She said firmly, glaring at the redheaded boy, who glared back.

"You're not the boss of-" Jinta's sneering comment was suddenly cut off as a bald, black bearded, spectacled mountain of a man in a tight white shirt and black apron lifted him by the scruff of his neck.

"Don't be rude to the nice young woman, Jinta." The man boomed, a disapproving frown on his face. He turned toward Ginny, who suddenly felt rather small compared to this giant of a man. He smiled slightly and inclined his head toward the entrance. "Please miss, go on inside."

Nodding, Ginny hurried on inside.

"Aw, come on Tessai! Put me down!" Jinta's voice complained, and, despite herself, the redhead smiled and giggled.

"Well, I'm glad to see someone in high spirits." The jovial voice from before said, amused.

Ginny watched as a blonde man in a green and white striped fishing hat stepped out, holding his unusual hat with one hand as his black robes with white diamond imprints at the hem swished in the breeze. Underneath, he wore a white kimono and pants, and on his feet, a pair of clogs.

"Are you... Kisuke Urahara?" Ginny asked, hoping that her surprise at his unusual appearance wasn't showing.

Urahara nodded, smiling enigmatically. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Ginny Weasley. Washu sent me to ask if the item was ready yet." She replied nervously, glancing around the darkened shop.

"Ah... you must be the Keybearer's friend." Urahara murmured, nodding and continuing to smile. "Well now, Miss Ginny. I do have the item Washu wants. Ururu! Go into the back and get Miss Washu's item, would you!"

The black haired girl peeked her head inside when called, and nodded, moving quickly into the backroom with hurried steps.

When the small girl returned, she was carrying a small, cardboard box that looked very ordinary. "Here you go." Ururu murmured quietly, almost too low to hear.

"Take care now, Miss Ginny." Urahara said cheerily, waving his hand idly. "And if you see the Keybearer... tell him about my shop, would you?"

Ginny nodded and smiled slightly. "I'll tell him when he comes back."

"Well then, you take care now!" Urahara said, waving his hand as the young woman exited his shop.

"There's something off about that girl." The large, muscular man murmured, stepping back inside.

Urahara merely smiled wider. "I think that young woman will prove to be quite interesting..."

* * *

"What is this place?" Harry asked aloud, his cloak wrapped around his shoulders, letting his face receive the full beaming sun of the area.

The buildings around him were wooden and rather archaic, with blue tiled roofs and wooden framed sliding doors with squares of white paper in between the wooden frames. Every now and then, a flag or a door would be spotted with a symbol on it.

Harry might not have recognized it, but Inuyasha felt much more at home in this archaic setting as he sighed under his breath, thankful there wasn't anything too outlandish.

The air felt... purer, cleaner in places like these.

"It's like pictures I've seen of Feudal Japan." Robin said softly, in amazement as she looked around in wonderment.

"Pictures?" the half demon snorted. "This is almost exactly the same..." Inuyasha muttered, and his eyes scanned the landscape. "Though I don't remember this." He said, kicking the stone paved road.

Before a discussion could ensue over the differences between this area and what Robin and Inuyasha had seen, Harry felt a strong tug going toward part of the city, and Inuyasha's sensitive ears caught the sounds of a battle.

"There's trouble." Harry said in clipped, grave tones, and Inuyasha and Robin nodded, turning in the direction of the disturbance.

Inuyasha sprinted forward in a blur, hearing the rapid footsteps of Robin following behind him at her best speed possible.

On the other hand, the half demon suddenly realized that Harry was moving as fast as_ himself_, the beige cloak swishing behind him to and fro, snapping in the winds created by their speed.

_He's gotten stronger..._ Inuyasha thought to himself, watching the Boy-Who-Lived keep up effortlessly, not a single bead of sweat from exertion as he ran.

Grinning, the half demon looked forward once more, just in time to arrive at the battle.

There were a few people fighting desperately, and rather well, if Harry was any judge of that. There was what looked like a raven haired woman and a young boy trying to fight off a group of them with wooden sticks, a man in a white gi and pants punching and kicking his way through the mob, and occasionally, there was the tiniest flash of silver and suddenly a group of slain Heartless...

From the looks of it, the Heartless had stormed this area with all the force they could muster, given their large numbers and the sheer tenacity they were showing. They had changed, and it was quite obvious they were much stronger than the previous batch had been.

There were still a large number of the helmeted Soldier Heartless, but now they brought strong looking allies to back them up.

There were a small group of powerful looking armored Heartless, though they looked radically different from the armored Shadow Knights.

Unlike their large and hulking counterparts, they were smaller, and focused more on speed as they moved rapidly across the battlefield. They wore a much more ornamental, Oriental style armor in the style of a samurai, complete with a crimson face guard in the shape of a laughing demon. They wielded either a bow and arrow or katanas, a weapon Harry had become familiar with as he sparred with Amidamaru.

"Those armored ones are called Bushido Heartless." Harry gritted out, crouching as he filled his body with as much magical power as he could summon, but making sure not to overdraw and use too much. "They're tougher than the others, so watch out."

"The Hell with that." Inuyasha snarled, and leapt forward, reaching for his sword as he reached the back of the Heartless line.

"Tetsusaiga!" Inuyasha called forth the sword, pulling his weapon free with a mighty heave and a surge of golden light. His sword appeared as it always did in the transformed state- a large, thick white-silver blade almost like a fang, with a white furred guard and the tattered katana hilt.

"Amazing." Robin breathed, and Harry couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. Inuyasha's face was split into a grin as he swung the weapon straight into the back of a pair of Soldier Heartless.

The two shadowy creatures never stood a chance, and were cut into two pieces and dissolved into smoke barely a second after the Tetsusaiga sliced through.

"I'm back you bastards!" Inuyasha crowed, laughing with the barest hint of feral rage as he charged headlong into the fray.

"Robin... look out for Inuyasha. I'm going to see if I can help those people." Harry said softly, and his eyes widened as he noticed a Bushido Heartless charging toward the young woman and the boy who had their backs to the enemy.

"They'll be killed!" Robin shouted, and hurled her hands forward, summoning forth a burst of fire about the size of her torso blazing toward the Heartless.

However, the creature, sensing danger, dodged to one side just as the fireball impacted the ground, leaving a small crater and a trail of misty gray smoke.

"NO!" the witch shouted, helpless as she watched the Heartless come closer.

In her despair, she didn't notice the narrowing of Harry Potter's eyes, nor the way he crouched, like a tiger about to spring, or the faint white glow that surrounded entire body for a fraction of a second.

A moment later, Robin found herself coughing slightly in the trail of dust and debris the Boy-Who-Lived left in his wake.

A good distance away, the raven haired young woman finally noticed the incoming attack, and screamed, seemingly frozen with fear, her ocean blue eyes wide with shock.

The Bushido Heartless raised the blade, and an unholy roar of triumph rumbled forth-

* * *

"So... what exactly did you do to Harry, anyway?" Washu said slowly, enunciating every word with careful grace, watching a young blonde girl lean against the stone wall of the castle.

Queen Zelda shot Anna her own curious look. "Indeed... when he returned, he seemed stronger. More capable. Like a seasoned veteran of battle instead of a young boy."

Anna, much to their shock, actually chuckled in a low, amused tone. "He's very good, I'll give him that. It only took a day to teach him what I wanted him to learn." The blonde girl said, eyes still closed.

"And the other days? What were you doing?" Zelda questioned curiously. Washu's eyes had an eager glint and she leaned in close to hear.

"I had him fight Amidamaru and Kurama the entire time. Sometimes one on one, sometimes the two of them against him." Anna replied quietly, and opened her eyes. "He's strong... frighteningly so. He's got a lot of raw power and a good deal of talent. But he lacks something."

"Experience." Washu noted softly, breathing in a short, sharp breath.

Anna nodded crisply. "Exactly. Harry's only real weakness right now is his lack of experience in actual combat. If he's able to learn more, gain more experience..."

"He'd be incredibly powerful." Zelda cut in with a deep gasp.

The blonde girl drew in a short breath, her face dead serious.

"Exactly."

* * *

Robin's eyes widened in surprise. "Amazing..." she whispered breathlessly.

"He really has gotten stronger..." Inuyasha muttered appreciatively, decapitating a Soldier with a sweeping movement.

In a flash, Harry appeared above the attacking Heartless, and with one blow bisected the Bushido Heartless, utterly annihilating it with the force of a single strike from the Keyblade.

"What the Hell is that?" the young, raven haired boy exclaimed, pointing and snickering at the Keyblade's new form.

Despite herself, Robin tittered at the sight as well, and Inuyasha let out a bark of derisive laughter, even as he avoided a powerful strike from a Heartless.

The Keyblade had changed, and Harry guessed that the Celestial Keychain Eriol had given him, which now hung from the bottom of the weapon, was the cause of that change.

The hilt guard was now in the shape of several white, feather wings curving to make an oval, meeting at the pommel of the hilt, as if to form a basket hilt of a rapier. The blade portion was now a vibrant, bright pink rod that was a little shorter than the previous form of the Keyblade. At the very tip of the weapon was a single golden star that shone in the midday sun.

"Celestial Key..." Harry flushed, despite himself. The weapon seemed... _girly_, but it was still a weapon, and Harry had enemies that needed to be defeated.

"Blitz!" leaping high into the air, Harry swung down, hard, into the center of a large group of Soldier Heartless. The attack sent a blinding flash of amber light through the battlefield, scattering the enemy in its wake.

Continuing the attack, the Boy-Who-Lived leapt upwards again, to strike in the middle of a group of Bushido Heartless, which survived the blow but were heavily damaged, and then once more, into a mixed group that was trying to storm the others.

Robin used her powers as best she could, sending supporting blasts of flame whenever Inuyasha or Harry left their guard open too much, or rescuing one of the survivors (who were in worse shape than either of the three).

Harry parried a blow from a particularly determined Bushido before leaping backwards, his face impassive as his heels dug into the dirt. Pushing the attack, several more Heartless swarmed in, eager for the kill.

Robin hurled her hands forward and a blistering inferno erupted in front of Harry, shielding him from the majority of his opponents.

With a grateful smile, the Boy-Who-Lived leapt up, landed on top of the shoulder plating of one of the Bushido Heartless and stabbed into its face, shattering the demon mask. As it began to dissolve and went slack, Harry kicked off, using the momentum to slice a Soldier in half with a back spin and a downward cut.

"Outta my way!" Inuyasha roared, and smashed the Tetsusaiga to one side, the brutally powerful sweep crushing a Bushido like paper. Another charged for him, the speed of the swing creating a vicious howl.

With a loud shout, the half demon parried the blow upwards, tearing not just the katana away from the Heartless but the arm along with it. The limb hit the ground with a thud, just as Inuyasha thrust the Tetsusaiga into the Bushido's mask, shattering it.

As the Bushido dissolved into dust, Inuyasha's ears caught steps, light and fast. His eyes barely caught a sudden blur that flashed by, leaving a wake of dissolving and maimed Heartless.

_What the Hell was **that**?_ Inuyasha wondered, before blocking the downward slash of another Bushido, feeling the sparks that flashed from the impact irritate his face.

Yet another Bushido Heartless charged him, katana raised, most likely hoping to catch the half demon off guard.

Scowling, Inuyasha removed one claw from Tetsusaiga and swung out in a backhand swipe. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" the golden crescents tore into the chest of the armored Heartless, sending it crashing backwards.

The Bushido Inuyasha had been fighting earlier made a powerful push forward, and, with Inuyasha's strength divided between knocking one Heartless back and holding back the other, the half demon suddenly found himself stumbling backwards, off balance.

The Heartless's demon face seemed to be mocking him as it raised its blade.

_Oh shit-_

A katana burst through the demon's mask, shattering it into pieces. In moments, the Bushido collapsed into black smoke.

Around them, the remaining Heartless seemed to melt away, driven back at last.

As the smoke cleared, Inuyasha found himself staring into the face of a raven haired young man, probably around Harry's age. His blue eyes were somewhat empty, like a cup that would never be fully filled.

He wore a collared, button up white shirt with a sky blue kimono with a darker blue lining in the inside, and a deep ocean blue hakama. His hand was in the process of sheathing an unusual katana.

"What's up with that sword?" Inuyasha asked bluntly. "It doesn't have an edge."

"A reverse blade sword?" Robin murmured in wonderment, eyeing the older boy with curiosity.

The young man merely smiled with his half-empty eyes, as though he didn't know how to do anything else. "I know. But it's a... memento of a man I once knew. It's his sword."

"Who are you?" Inuyasha asked, unnerved by the older boy's eyes. There was just something... off about him, as though he was missing some vital, critical piece of his humanity.

"Seta Soujiro... but for the purposes of these times, I've taken on my old title." Soujiro said, smiling. Harry and Robin walked within hearing distance, watching the dark haired swordsman carefully.

"You may call me Soujiro the Tenken."

* * *

Author's Notes 

Wow, this took so much longer than I thought it would. My apologies. Well, welcome to the Rurouni Kenshin arc of the story. I hope, I dearly hope that the next chapter won't take as long.

New Anime Cameos: Bleach, Rurouni Kenshin.


End file.
